KUALA LUMPUR: As the sun set on Malaysia's national election, the ruling party was already claiming victory, but the optimism surrounding the vote, in cafes and on the street, could not be subdued. People were in high spirits, after some 80 percent of registered voters cast ballots, said election officials. "This is very exciting and at this point as long as the election is fair, I don't mind because that is democracy and we are showing the world that Malaysia is a top level country," one election monitor and opposition supporter told Bikyanews.com in Kuala Lumpur. Early results showed Barisan Nasional had won 38 parliamentary seats to Pakatan Rakyat's 16, with at least 112 of 222 parliamentary seats being needed to win federal power. Final results are not expected until Monday. "It is good for the country and the region to show we are a strong democratic country where opposition and ruling party can compete in a good atmosphere," he added. PM Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional, the National Front coalition, is up against Pakatan Rakyat, a three-party alliance headed by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Voters were faced with returning the ruling party, in power for 56 years, or choosing an untested opposition. Ahead of the polls, allegations of various forms of fraud emerged. On-the-ground activists have told Bikyanews.com that they fear the election, expected to be the closest in the country's history, will not be fair. “I have seen government officials come into polling stations and bark out orders to people and this is not what they are supposed to be doing in order to make things move smoothly and fairly," said one activist, who told Bikyanews.com that he has been tasked to be an election monitor. Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim told reporters on Thursday that tens of thousands of “dubious" voters may have been “flown in to key states to boost the government's chances in this weekend's election," an accusation the ruling coalition has vehemently denied. Electoral fraud is a sensitive issue in Malaysia, where a civil society movement has sprung up to demand electoral reforms in increasingly large street protests. A narrow victory by the ruling coalition on Sunday could trigger allegations of cheating and calls for more street protests. While Sabah and Sarawak are government strongholds, the mainland peninsula is home to several closely contested states, such as Selangor near Kuala Lumpur which fell to the opposition in 2008. “The timing of this surge in arrivals and its sheer size naturally raise the question of whether they have been transported here surreptitiously to vote in favor of the National Front," Anwar said in an emailed statement. A government spokesman denied the accusation. He said the flights were part of a normal “get out the vote" campaign and had been paid for by “friends" of the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition. The National Front faces a resurgent opposition led by Anwar, who was finance minister in the 1990s and later jailed for six years on corruption and sodomy charges he said were trumped up. It could be the closest election since the Southeast Asian country won independence from Britain in 1957. BN
