January poll litmus test for ruling coalition

Kuala Lumpur :Malaysia's ruling coalition needs to win a by-election in January to re-establish its credibility after it performed poorly in recent polls, the country's prime minister-in-waiting said yesterday.

The Barisan Nasional government that has ruled Malaysia for 51 years slumped to its worst election result in March and in an August by-election, opposition leader Anwar Ebrahim was returned to parliament with a larger than expected majority.

"We have to win because we want to make the victory a starting point for BN [Barisan Nasional] and UMNO's revival from the defeat in Permatang Pauh [Anwar's seat]," Najeb Razak, who will become prime minister in March, told a meeting in the rural constituency where the vote will take place on January 17.

Big money

Najeb, who is finance minister, handed over a 408.6 million ringgit ($114.1 million) cheque for oil royalties to the state on the east coast of Malaysia where the by-election will be held, according to Malaysian news agency Bernama.

Najeb is set to take office after the departure of lacklustre Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was brought forward by UMNO, the dominant party in the Barisan Nasional coalition.

The by-election is a key test for Najeb, who will lead the government campaign in a constituency that is almost 90 percent Malay, the race traditionally represented by UMNO, compared with 60 per cent nationally in this country of 27 million people.