Malaysia's opposition Islamic party yesterday accused Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government of using strong-arm tactics against its supporters ahead of upcoming general elections.
Senior officials of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party said the government had sacked party supporters and used police to prevent its members from attending rallies ahead of the election, expected by early next year.
Officials also complained that the National Election Commission was biased and had used tactics such as deleting the names of opposition supporters from election rolls.
The government was using "arm twisting tactics to secure a convincing win the general elections," said Kamaruddin Jaafar, a senior party official, on the last day of the party's four-day annual meeting.
"We used this meeting to remind our members not to be intimidated and to remain committed to our party struggle," Kamaruddin said. "God willing, we are confident of a good showing despite all the obstacles."
The government has denied the accusations.
The election will be the first time in 22 years that the government's campaign will not be led by Mahathir, who is due to retire in coming weeks.
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party controls two of Malaysia's 13 states. It also holds 26 seats in the 193-seat Parliament, which is dominated by the coalition led by Mahathir's United Malays National Organization.
Success for the Islamic party in the general elections could spell trouble for Mahathir's hand-picked successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The party had its best showing in the previous election in 1999, winning a second state and tripling its seats in parliament.
Kamaruddin said the party needed to do more to debunk Mahathir's claims that it was controlled by hard-line leaders who wanted to impose Taliban-like rule in Malaysia.
RSS