KUALA LUMPUR - Recounts of votes in Malaysia's 11th general
election have brought about two reversals: Kelantan has been won by
PAS and not the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), and the opposition
Keadilan's Dr Wan Azizah has retained her seat in the federal
Parliament.
These reversals took place even as Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was
sworn in to a five-year term as Malaysia's fifth prime minister in
a solemn ceremony.
The results of the recounts mean that it wasn't as clean a sweep by
his ruling Barisan Nasional coalition as reports based on
projections have said.
Kelantan, which the Muslim fundamentalist PAS has ruled since 1990,
will continue to be under opposition control. Trengganu, which till
this election was also PAS controlled, went back to BN on Sunday
night.
In Kelantan late on Sunday night, initial election results had
dealt PAS a narrow loss, but the Election Commission announced it
had agreed to recount the ballots in eight seats where voting was
very close - close enough to swing control of the state assembly
either way.
Over in Penang, the wife of jailed former deputy prime minister
Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Wan Azizah, was also returned to her Permatang
Pauh seat after winning on a recount of the votes.
She defeated the BN's candidate, Mohamad Pirdaus Ismail, by 590
votes after ballots were counted for a fourth time following
Sunday's elections.
The initial count at the close of polls on Sunday had her as a
loser by a mere 36 votes. Political observers had said the Anwar
factor was truly buried, and Keadilan was history, having lost all
five federal seats it was contesting.
Her majority of 590 is, however, a significant reduction from her
1999 performance, when she managed to have more than 9,000 votes
more than her challenger from BN. -- AP
from losing 36 votes to winning 590 votes after recount.
gez, sibei kelong, be it before or after the recount.
