Malaysia’s scandal-hit PM faces ex-mentor in election

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (UPDATED) – Malaysians went to the polls Wednesday, May 9, in one of the country’s closest ever elections which pits scandal-hit Prime Minister Najib Razak against his one-time mentor, 92-year-old former authoritarian leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib is seeking to retain power at the head of a regime that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, but veteran ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad’s shock comeback has upended the election race.

Angered by a massive financial scandal that has tarnished Malaysia’s international image, Mahathir has teamed up with an alliance of parties that opposed him when he was in power, and which includes jailed opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim – his former nemesis.

Najib’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition is seen as likely to win due to an electoral system that critics say is heavily stacked in their favor, but analysts predict the government will lose the popular vote for the second consecutive election.

Critics have accused BN of gerrymandering with a redrawing of electoral boundaries that created constituencies more likely to back them, while activists have alleged irregularities in the electoral roll, including dead people appearing on the list.

Malaysian elections have long been plagued by allegations of fraud and as voting got underway, both opposition leaders and senior BN members claimed their phones had been jammed by spam calls in an attempt to stop them communicating with their teams.

The race is expected to be tight. The opposition alliance has gained ground in recent weeks as Mahathir, who ruled with an iron fist for 22 years, has chipped away at the government’s key support base, the Muslim Malay majority.

Long queues formed at voting centers across the country, which opened at 8:00 am (0000 GMT). They were due to close at 5:00 pm (0900 GMT) with results expected late Wednesday or in the early hours of Thursday, May 10.

Mahathir cast his ballot alongside his wife in the northern city of Alor Setar, his birthplace, with a huge crowd turning out to greet them.

“I am confident of winning,” he told reporters. “I feel very good, I am confident unless Najib cheats.”

Najib, a political blue blood and son of Malaysia’s second prime minister, voted in his constituency of Pekan and said the election had seen “quite vicious” personal attacks.

“The most important thing is for people to decide on the destiny of this nation, and it must be based on facts,” the 64-year-old told reporters.

Under pressure

Najib is under pressure to score an emphatic win after the government lost the popular vote for the first time at the last elections in 2013, and observers say his position as prime minister could be under threat if he does not do well.

The controversy surrounding state fund 1MDB has dogged Najib since the story exploded in 2015. Billions of dollars were allegedly stolen from the fund, which was set up and overseen by Najib. The leader and 1MDB deny any wrongdoing.

But in rural areas the rising cost of living, which has hit poor Malays hard, has been the main concern particularly after the introduction of an unpopular sales tax in 2015.

As polls opened, some opposition leaders claimed their phones were flooded with spam calls from abroad to hamper their communications.

Lim Kit Siang – a leader of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a key party in the opposition alliance – said the ruling coalition’s “dirty tricks are at work today with mobile telephones of key DAP leaders throughout the country sabotaged and disabled by endless incoming calls from the United States”.

At least two government ministers posted photos of their phones, showing they had received numerous calls from abroad, while Najib in a tweet condemned the “spam call tactic” which he said had affected many BN leaders.

Critics have raised the alarm about alleged manipulation of the system to tilt the poll in BN’s favor through a redrawing of electoral boundaries which created constituencies packed with Malay voters.

The opposition was increasingly targeted as the campaign heated up, with police launching a probe into Mahathir for allegedly breaking a controversial new law against “fake news” after he claimed a plane he chartered was sabotaged. – Rappler.com