Ruling Party Splits Vote With Fundamentalists
MALAYSIA
*
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s ruling party split a by-election with Muslim fundamentalists who want to declare Malaysia a hard-line Islamic state.
The archrivals were contesting the state assembly and national Parliament seats that came open after the death last month of Fadzil Noor, leader of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS.
The fundamentalists retained the assembly seat and built an early, 2,000-vote lead for the parliamentary seat. But Mahathir’s ruling United Malays National Organization party pulled ahead.
The PAS demanded a recount, which confirmed that the ruling party had won the parliamentary seat by 283 votes out of 45,730 cast.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
