Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: Anwar Ibrahim won an overwhelming mandate in a parliamentary by-election yesterday, officials said, setting the stage for his return to frontline Malaysian politics and sealing the once-jailed opposition figure’s remarkable resurrection.
Figures released by the Election Commission showed he got more than 71 percent of the total votes cast in a seven-way contest which included a former aide who lodged the sodomy charges that landed Anwar in prison for a second time in 2014.
“I am happy with the results. Allah bless us all,” Anwar said after the victory, which marks the charismatic politician’s stunning political comeback from prison to parliament.
Winning the seat was a key requirement for Anwar to succeed 93-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who jailed his former protege and heir apparent on sodomy and corruption charges in 1998 when their relationship soured.
Mahathir returned to the premiership this year after a shock election win, saying he would stay in power for only two years before handing the reins to Anwar.
Anwar was in prison when he forged an unlikely alliance with Mahathir in a bid to unseat then-prime minister Najib Razak, who had called elections for May amid massive corruption allegations.
Polls opened under cloudy skies at 8:00 am (0000 GMT) and closed nine and a half hours later in the sleepy southern coastal town of Port Dickson, home to a sizeable ethnic Chinese community that has traditionally been one of Anwar’s pillars of support.
There had been little doubt the reformist politician would win the seat, which was vacated after a member of the ruling coalition stepped down to pave the way for Anwar’s return.
But he campaigned hard to secure the multi-racial constituency, promising voters development, clean government and a boost to local tourism.
Political heavyweights including Mahathir have campaigned for Anwar during a comeback that was unthinkable even six months ago.
The duo went onstage together at one campaign event, prompting wild cheers from supporters.
After he was dumped as finance minister and jailed in the 1990s, Anwar led a reformist opposition movement while fighting to overturn his convictions.
Mahathir, his mentor turned tormentor and now ally, came back from retirement to lead the Alliance of Hope coalition that won power in May.
