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2018-10-14 Southeast Asia
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Malaysia's Anwar returns to frontline politics in big poll win
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[PULSE.NG] Anwar Ibrahim won an overwhelming mandate in a parliamentary by-election Saturday, officials said, setting the stage for his return to frontline Malaysian politics and sealing the once-tossed in the clink
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
opposition figure's remarkable resurrection.
Figures released by the Election Commission showed he got more than 71 percent of the total votes cast in a seven-way contest which included a former aide who lodged the sodomy charges that landed Anwar in prison for a second time in 2014.
"I am happy with the results. Allah bless us all," Anwar said after the victory, which marks the charismatic politician's stunning political comeback from prison to parliament.
Winning the seat was a key requirement for Anwar to succeed 93-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who tossed in the clink
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
his former protege and heir apparent on sodomy and corruption charges in 1998 when their relationship soured.
Mahathir returned to the premiership this year after a shock election win, saying he would stay in power for only two years before handing the reins to Anwar.
Anwar was in prison when he forged an unlikely alliance with Mahathir in a bid to unseat then-prime minister Najib Razak, who had called elections for May amid massive corruption allegations.
Underscoring the drama of Saturday's vote, one of Anwar's six challengers is the ex-aide who had accused him of sodomy, still illegal in the largely Moslem country.
Polls opened under cloudy skies at 8:00 am (0000 GMT) and closed nine and a half hours later in the sleepy southern coastal town of Port Dickson, home to a sizeable ethnic Chinese community that has traditionally been one of Anwar's pillars of support.
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Posted by Fred 2018-10-14 00:00||
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