Malaysia’s opposition snatched a parliamentary seat from the beleaguered coalition government, in a by-election seen as a test of the nation’s political mood. The opposition alliance said the victory in northeastern Terengganu state was a huge boost to its campaign to seize power after it won a third of parliamentary seats and five states in landmark general elections last year. “Yes we have won,” said Husam Musa, vice-president of the conservative Islamic PAS party, which fielded the winning candidate on behalf of the three-party opposition alliance headed by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. Husam said UMNO, which leads the Barisan Nasional coalition and has run Malaysia for half a century, had lost the support of Muslim Malay voters as well as the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities. The official tally showed that PAS had won with a majority of 2,631, claiming 32,883 votes against 30,252 for the government which last won the seat in the state capital Kuala Terengganu with a slim majority.
MALAYSIA’S OPPOSITION WINS
Malaysia’s opposition snatched a parliamentary seat from the beleaguered coalition government, in a by-election seen as a test of the nation’s political mood. The opposition alliance said the victory in northeastern Terengganu state was a huge boost to its campaign to seize power after it won a third of parliamentary seats and five states in…
