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PERMATANG PAUH, Malaysia - Malaysia's opposition declared its leader Anwar Ibrahim had won a "landslide" victory on Tuesday in an by-election to return him to parliament after a decade-long absence.
Anwar, who has made a stunning comeback after being sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges, said he was now on track to seize power from a weakened government.
"We declare victory, the margin is very huge," said Tian Chua, information chief of Anwar's Keadilan party which leads a three-member opposition alliance.
"I think it's a landslide victory."
Chua said that with half of the vote counted, Anwar had garnered at least 65 per cent of the ballots and that the figure could rise as high as 70 per cent once all the 38,144 votes cast were tallied.
Early results from the official count showed Anwar had won 12,748 votes, against 5,380 for his opponent from the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has dominated Malaysian politics for half a century.
Anwar said he had outgunned the government despite a "sickening" campaign that focused on new sodomy allegations against him, and was marred by allegations of vote-buying and electoral fraud.
The opposition has also accused the coalition of attempting to undermine Anwar by stoking tensions between Muslim Malays who dominate the population, and minority ethnic Chinese and Indian citizens.
"This is a clear indication that people of all races have rejected the communal politics of Barisan Nasional. It is a clear endorsement of our reform agenda. We are on track to take over the government," he told AFP.
Anwar had been widely expected to win back his old seat of Permatang Pauh, which was held by his wife during his political exile. She stood aside last month to allow him to contest, after a ban on holding public office expired.
However, political pundits had said that the coalition's no-holds-barred campaign could have impacted on Anwar's winning margin, which will be seen as an indicator of his ability to shrug off the sodomy charges.
Analysts said that even after he returns to parliament as the formal leader of a three-member opposition alliance, Anwar faces further daunting hurdles including a looming trial on the new sodomy allegations.
The opposition leader has said that the charges, levelled by a 23-year-old male aide, have been concocted by the government to thwart his ambitions of seizing power with the help of defecting lawmakers.
His original sodomy conviction was overturned by the nation's highest court in 2004, allowing him to go free after spending six years in jail.
He then spent several years behind the scenes, before storming back onto the political stage at the helm of a reinvigorated opposition.
In March general elections the opposition alliance seized control of five states and a third of parliamentary seats, in an unprecedented result which shook the coalition and put Anwar within striking distance of seizing power.
He needs to secure the support of at least 30 defectors in order to oust the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has faced calls to quit after the general elections debacle.
The ballot in Permatang Pauh was held under tight security, after both sides traded allegations of abuse and attacks on their supporters. Some 4,500 police were deployed to keep the peace.
Despite the focus on the sodomy allegations, Anwar's star power was apparently undimmed in his stronghold of Permatang Pauh, and he drew big crowds to nightly rallies over the intense 10-day campaign.
"I will vote for Anwar, he represents the voice of the people. God willing, he will win," said Roslie Ismail, a 37-year-old factory worker who said he was disappointed in the the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which leads the coalition.
"I have no more faith in UMNO because there's corruption and abuse of power."
- AFP/ir
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