A jubilant Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, early this morning declared his coalition government the winner of Malaysia's bitterly contested general election, though he now faces a lively opposition in parliament led by Dr Wan Azizah, wife of imprisoned former deputy prime minister, Mr Anwar Ibrahim.
The huge majorities held by members of the ruling 14-party Barisan Nasional coalition were dented in constituency after constituency as voters registered a protest against the sacking and imprisonment of Mr Anwar on corruption and sex charges. While winning an unprecedented fifth term in office, Dr Mahathir's own majority fell from 17,266 to 10,138 in his constituency in Kedah state.
But it wasn't enough to change anything in Malaysia's power structures. Dr Mahathir was smiling broadly when he appeared at a 3 a.m. press conference which began with the unveiling, to the loud cheers of supporters, of a notice board showing the government's tally at that time of 131 seats to the opposition's 39, out of a total of 193 constituencies.
The four-party opposition group, which united pro-reform and Islamic parties, was unable to break the stranglehold of the ruling coalition, which has a vastly superior grass roots organisation, tight control over the media and ample funds. It crucially failed to deprive Dr Mahathir of the two-thirds majority which gives the government sweeping constitutional powers.
"The result shows that Barisan Nasional is still the party of choice of Malaysia," said Dr Mahathir who campaigned against change on the basis that it could bring unrest and Islamic extremism. "As we promised in our manifest we will ensure this country remains free and united and remains successful," he said.
Dr Azizah, the Dublin educated ophthalmologist and wife of Mr Anwar scored a resounding major victory for the National Justice Party which she formed after her husband's arrest. She won 23,820 votes against 14,743 for her opponent, Mr Ibrahim Saad, a junior government minister in her husband's old constituency.
"This is a victory of the people. It showed that the people dared to choose change," Dr Azizah told a crowd of supporters as the result was announced. Asked what Mr Anwar's reaction would be, she said: "He would be relieved that I won. I think he was praying very hard."
Mr Anwar's sacking in 1998 and subsequent six-year jail term for abuse of power triggered antigovernment protests and spurred the usually divided opposition to put up a common front against Dr Mahathir under the Barisan Alternatif (Alternative Front) banner. Dr Azizah was instrumental in creating a pact to put up only one agreed candidate in each of Malaysia's constituencies. She had to endure personal attacks from the government during the campaign, including an allegation from Dr Mahathir that she had twice asked her husband for a divorce.
A mother of six, Dr Azizah (47) follows in an Asian tradition where women have taken up the torch for fallen fathers or husbands; they include Ms Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, Ms Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Ms Sonia Gandhi of India, and Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka. In a setback for Dr Mahathir, the opposition won control of two of Malaysia's 17 state assemblies, Kelantan and Terengganu, both in the Muslim heartland of the northern Malay Peninsula. Previously only Kelantan was held by the opposition. The conservative Islamic Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) won both states.
The opposition also had its disappointments, with defeat for Malaysia's leading opposition leader, Mr Lim Kit Siang, who was an MP for 30 years with the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP). Mr Karpal Singh, the leading defence lawyer in the Anwar trial, lost his seats in parliament and in the Penang assembly.