Permatang Pauh, Malaysia: Anwar Ebrahim said only fraud can stop his party from scoring a historic election win as the rival sides launched a last-ditch campaign blitz on Saturday on the eve of a tense vote.
Sunday’s elections are the first in the country’s 56 years of independence in which the only government Malaysia has known faces possible defeat.
The uncertainty has given rise to a bitter campaign, with Prime Minister Najib Razak warning of chaos and ethnic strife under the opposition, which has countered with numerous allegations of government vote fraud.
Opposition leader Ebrahim set the stage for a possibly destabilising challenge to the results, accusing the Barisan Nasional (National Front) regime of cheating to thwart what he called a ‘democratic revolution’.
“We have advised our supporters to remain calm, not to be provoked, not to take the law into their own hands, support the process,” Ebrahim said in an interview in his home seat in the state of Penang. “Unless there’s a major massive fraud tomorrow — that is our nightmare — we will win.”
Razak has denied chartering planes to move tens of thousands of voters into marginal constituencies for Sunday’s election, as alleged in a BBC report. His party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), said the flights had been paid for by supporters and not by Razak’s office.
The opposition allege a number of other abuses. One researcher found a suspiciously large number of voters over the age of 100 in the eastern state of Sabah.
The official election commission says it has done everything it can to ensure this is the cleanest election in Malaysian history.
Emails and passenger manifests allegedly leaked by staff at Malaysia’s national airline alerted the opposition to what it believes is a concerted effort by UMNO to shift voters into marginal constituencies.
The emails refer to requests for chartered aircraft from the office of the prime minister.
Among other allegations of irregularities, the daughter of Ebrahim says there are nearly 5,000 extra voters registered in her Kuala Lumpur constituency whom she cannot trace.
Both Ebrahim and Razak barnstormed through their home regions, where they will cast their own ballots early on Sunday.
Najib’s ethnic Malay-dominated Barisan has tightly held power in the multi-racial nation for decades, steering it from a backwater to an economic success with some of Asia’s highest living standards.
But its grip is slipping amid rising anger over corruption, controversial policies favouring Malays and authoritarian tactics.
Razak, who took over from his predecessor in 2009 following Barisan’s worst election showing ever the previous year, has appealed to voters for a ‘strong mandate’ so he can implement his promise to reform.
“This is the first time, as the prime minister, that I am seeking a mandate from the people,” he told supporters in his home state of Pahang on Saturday. “I want to carry on with the trust. The task of transformation is not over yet.”
A survey released Fon riday indicated a race too close to call, with Barisan and Ebrahim’s three-party Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Pact) equal in voter support, but with many still undecided.
Barisan has launched an all-out campaign attack, with Najib showering voters with cash handouts from government coffers, as Barisan-controlled traditional media relentlessly attack Pakatan.
Ebrahim was Barisan’s heir-apparent until a 1998 power struggle saw him jailed for six years on sex and graft charges widely criticised as trumped up. He later brought his star power to the previously weak opposition, dramatically reversing its fortunes.
Upping the ante, Anwar released a 100-day roadmap for Pakatan governance on Saturday, pledging to look into major corruption allegations, free up the media and lower petrol prices.
His transparency promises are anathema to Barisan, which has long been accused of sweeping widespread corruption under the rug.
Under pressure, Najib recently announced limited political liberalisation moves but critics say he has not undertaken deep reforms.
The charismatic Ebrahim has drawn massive crowds on the stump, including on Friday night, when tens of thousands of supporters swamped opposition-held Penang’s capital.
Activists warn the election could be ‘stolen’ by Barisan, which has been accused of fraud in past polls.
Last week it was learned that indelible ink meant to mark voters’ fingers to prevent multiple voting could be washed off, and Ebrahim said Barisan was flying tens of thousands of ‘dubious’ voters to pivotal areas.
The government later admitted the flights but called them a ‘get out the vote’ drive.
Violence also has raised tensions, though no deaths have been reported.
In one of the latest incidents, an explosive device detonated at a power substation near the Kuala Lumpur headquarters of Ebrahim’s party late on Friday, causing minor damage, a party official said.
Police have warned voters not to ‘loiter’ around polling stations or celebrate on Sunday but instead return home after casting their ballots.
