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KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim hailed “a new
dawn for Malaysia” Sunday after stunning election results that
cemented his political comeback after being sacked and jailed a
decade ago.
The performance has even revived talk of the
charismatic 60-year-old as a future prime minister, after the lost
decade that followed his 1998 fall from grace when he was convicted
on sex and corruption charges.
Anwar delivered a crushing blow to the ruling
Barisan Nasional coalition by rallying the opposition parties to
their best performance in Malaysian history, seizing four states and
more than a third of parliamentary seats.
He weathered blistering personal attacks during
the campaign from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s ruling
party, which was clearly rattled as he criss-crossed the nation
delivering barnstorming speeches.
A jubilant Anwar said the opposition now has to
prove it was a credible alternative to the coalition, which has completely
dominated Malaysian politics for half a century.
“It is a new dawn for Malaysia,” he told
Agence France-Presse. “People want to see justice.”
Anwar’s Keadilan party won 31 seats for the
biggest opposition presence in the new 222-seat parliament, from
just one in the outgoing parliament.
The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party won
28 and the Islamic party PAS won 23.
Anwar said the results exploded Malaysia’s
race-based political structure, under which parties have traditionally
represented individual ethnic groups.
“The opposition that has been voted in is a
truly multiracial party. It is a fantastic setup,” he said.
“I will help the Malays, but it will be done
justly, and in the same breath I will help the Indians and the
Chinese.”
Political observers said Anwar could rule the
country if he managed to consolidate the successes of the disparate
opposition parties.
“He played a major role in the opposition’s
success. Anwar remains very influential. He delivered a powerful
blow to the ruling party,” Mohamad Agus Yusoff from the National
University of Malaysia told AFP.
“Anwar has denied the Barisan its two-third
majority. He could one day become the prime minister. If the Barisan
remains weak, we could see it being toppled in the next polls,”
he added.
In further victories for Anwar’s family, his
wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail extended her majority in her constituency
in the island state of Penang, while his daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar
won her first election fight.
Mohamad Agus said the coalition’s rhetoric
that Anwar was no longer relevant had sowed the seeds for its
defeat.
“They adopted a denial syndrome. They failed
to realize that Anwar represented the symbol of justice and had the
capacity to woo voters across any age-group,” he said.
Anwar spent six years in jail on sex and
corruption charges, which he said were politically motivated.
The sex charge was quashed but the corruption count still stands,
barring him from holding office until April.
He has raised the prospect of re-entering parliament
through a by-election, but Anwar told AFP he would focus first on
consolidating the election results.
“I am in no hurry to get into the parliament.
I have 31 seats to consider which Keadilan won,” he said.
Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, a political analyst and
UMNO watcher, said the opposition would have to forge an alliance
and create a two-party system in order to build a future for itself.
“Only then will Anwar have a chance to become
a prime minister and maybe he could be a prime minister in the next
10 years,” he told AFP.
Anwar said he felt “truly vindicated” by the
massive vote of support.
“Going forward, Malays, Indians and Chinese
all have to work together and make us a formidable force,” he
said.
-- AFP
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