Landslide for Malaysia's moderates
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- -- Malaysia's ruling moderates have won an unexpected landslide victory over the fundamentalist Islamic opposition in Sunday's elections.
The results are being seen as a personal endorsement for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and a setback for Islamic hardliners.
Voters were choosing 219 members of paliament and 505 state assembly members. Abdullah's National Party has so far taken almost 90 percent of parliament's seats giving the prime minister a mandate for change.
Abdullah, who took over from longtime leader Mahathir Mohamad in October, was always expected to win, but the margin was a surprise.
Success in the national election was matched in the provincial assembly polls.
Reports project the governing National Party that UMNO heads will win two key Muslim states in the rural north, the stronghold of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
The National Party retained control of the key state of Kedah and its tiny neighbor Perlis -- both of which the opposition PAS had targeted to take over, Reuters reported.
Final results from the Election Commission showed Abdullah's party claimed Terengganu state with 28 seats to three for the Islamic party, with one being recounted, The Associated Press reported.
The parties were neck-and-neck in Kelantan -- held by the Islamic party since 1990. UMNO went from two seats in Kelantan to at least 16.
More than 50,000 police backed by helicopters, dogs and water cannons were deployed throughout Malaysia for the election, but no trouble was reported.
Malaysia's elections have become a battle for the Muslim soul, with the key question being which political party has the true vision of Islam.
PAS wants to turn Malaysia into a strict Islamic state with laws sanctioning execution by stoning and amputating thieves' hands.
PAS, which tripled its parliamentary seats and won power in a second state in 1999 amid a wave of Malay anger at former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, claims the UMNO is not Islamic enough.
But Mahathir, who retired in October, has said PAS's vision of Islam is wrong and outdated.
When PAS tried to impose strict Islamic law in two Malaysian states it controlled, Mahathir said PAS leaders "deviated from Islam and should be condemned to hell."
Yet, after many Muslims felt targeted by a global war on terror, many Muslim nations elected fundamentalist groups like PAS.
"A lot of Muslims feel hemmed in. They feel that they've been pushed against the wall ... and they responded to it by supporting parties that waved the Islamic flag," political analyst Chandra Muzaffar told CNN.
But Mahathir has laid a more conservative groundwork for his successor, Abdullah.
"We have taken what we consider to be the correct attitude. We are not blindly supportive of the U.S. We support the fight against terror, but we also want to stand up for the Muslim countries and the Muslim people who are oppressed," Mahathir says.
Jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's party lost all five of its seats -- disappearing as fast as it burst onto Malaysia's political scene five years ago, when Anwar was dumped as Mahathir's anointed successor, The Associated Press reported.
Azizah Ismail, Anwar's wife, also lost her parliamentary seat.
-- CNN's Maria Ressa contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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