> Death sparks by-election buzz
The sudden death of Malaysia's Deputy Education Minister Razali Ismail yesterday has created a buzz among politicians of the by-election that will have to be held soon for his Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat.
The Election Commission is expected to call a by-election within 60 days of receiving official notification of Razali's death.
A father of five, Razali collapsed while playing badminton at the teachers' training college in Genting Highlands, Bernama reported yesterday. He was attending a Terengganu Umno retreat.
A by-election in Terengganu, political watchers say, could be a tricky test for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition as Umno leaders in the east coast state are split into factions.
Razali, 59, was a two-term MP for Kuala Terengganu, but he barely won his second term. He beat his two opponents by a razor-thin margin of 628 votes during the March general election.
He had bagged 32,562 votes against Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas) vice-president Mohamad Sabu, who got 31,934 votes. The independent candidate, grandmother Maimun Yusuf, 89, proved to be a spoiler by garnering 685 votes. Without her, the seat may well have gone to PAS, as Mohamad Sabu is popular on the ground.
The slim victory in March suggests that Umno will not have an easy time retaining this seat, in a state that has seen much upheaval and had fallen to the opposition in 1999. Umno infighting in the state also cost it votes in the March election, although it retained power.
Terengganu saw a protracted constitutional crisis after the election, when its ruler refused to appoint the menteri besar selected by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, despite Datuk Idris Jusoh commanding the majority of the confidence of the state assemblymen.
Instead, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin installed his own choice, Umno assemblyman Ahmad Said - a move Abdullah first described as "unconstitutional". But the Sultan won the public faceoff and got his way.
The resulting Umno infighting is not yet fully settled, analysts say.
Coming just before Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak takes over the hot seat as the leader of the country, this could be seen as a referendum and a stern first test for both himself and the fractured BN that he is taking over. As the deputy president of Umno, Najib is traditionally the head of the election machinery for by-elections.
The last by-election was held in August in Permatang Pauh, Penang. It saw opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim sweeping back into Parliament with a decisive victory, putting severe pressure on Abdullah, and eventually sped up his decision to hand over power to Najib by next March - The Straits Times.
