STATUS-QUO MAINTAINED IN THREE BY-ELECTIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- Status quo is maintained in three
by-elections Tuesday, with National Front (Barisan Nasional - BN) and opposition
PAS and People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat - PKR) maintaining the
respective seats they won in the March 2008 general election.

Barisan Nasional or National Front is a major political coalition in
Malaysia. Formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance (Parti Perikatan), it
has been Malaysia's ruling political party since independence.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party or the Islamic Party of Malaysia, commonly
known as PAS or Pas, is an Islamist political party in Malaysia while the
People's Justice Party, often known simply as Keadilan is a centrist political
party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and
the older Malaysian People's Party.

PAS, together with PKR, and Democratic Action Party (known as DAP) formed
part of a coalition called People's Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat) following the 2008
election. Together, People's Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat) now controls five states
in Malaysia which is Kelantan, Kedah, Selangor, Perak and Penang.


The ruling BN won the Batang Ai state constituency in Sarawak after its
candidate Malcom Mussen Lamoh beat PKR's Jawah Gerang, and retained the Sarawak,
an East Malaysia state, interior seat for the BN in convincing fashion.

The BN man polled 3,907 votes against Jawah's 2,053 in the battle for the
Iban heartland. There were 59 spoilt votes.

Malcom's 1,854-vote majority is more than double the 806-vote margin
recorded by BN's Dublin Unting Inkot in last year's general election.
Unting died on Feb 24 this year, paving way for the by-election.

Analysts said the victory proved that it was difficult for Peninsular
Malaysia-based opposition parties to make inroads in east Malaysia.


The result, they said, reinforced the fact that voters in the interior of
Sarawak are still with the BN and are unlikely to abandon their allegiance in
the near future.

"This is because the BN delivers on the promise of development. So why
change when you are enjoying the benefit?" said a BN component party.

In the peninsula, opposition parties retained their respective Bukit
Selambau state and Bukit Gantang parliamentary seats.

In Bukit Selambau in northern Kedah-state, PKR's S. Manikumar beat BN's S.
Ganeson in the by-election which would go down in the record book for having the
most number of candidates -- 15 altogether, including 13 independents.

Manikumar polled 12,632 votes as opposed to Ganesan's 10,229 votes to win
the seat by a 2,403-vote majority.

There is a slight increase in the majority for the seat in this
by-election, compared to the 2,362-vote majority obtained by PKR candidate V.
Arumugam in the 2008 general election.

The seat fell vacant after Arumugam resigned on Feb 8, 2009, citing personal
problem as among the reasons.

For the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak, PAS candidate Mohammad
Nizar Jamaluddin, the former Chief Minister, defeated BN's Ismail
Saffian.

Nizar polled 21,860 votes against Ismail's 19,071 votes.

The PAS leader obtained a 2,789-vote majority, much higher than the
1,566-vote majority obtained by the party's candidate, Roslan Shaharum, in the
2008
general election.

Roslan died on Feb 9, 2009 due to a heart complication, paving the way for
the by-election.

Political analysts and observers said the results in the three by-elections
showed two sides of the political situation in the country -- one being the fact
that the BN would still need time to win back the hearts of minds of the people
in the two northern states in the aftermath of the 12th general election.

"The new leadership now has to prove that it is sincere and has the welfare
of the people at heart," said a component party leader, who declined to be
named.

Observers also pointed out that the appearance of former Prime Minister
Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang a day before the polling
might have come a little too late.

The second aspect, the said, was that opposition parties wanting badly to
make a headway in Sarawak failed miserably despite vigorous canvassing by PKR
advisor Anwar Ibrahim.

Here, observers said the opposition parties did not have a strategy that was
suited to the Land of the Hornbills as they merely relied on the same strategies
used in the peninsula.

-- BERNAMA