VZCZCXRO9222
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKL #0759/01 2400027
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 270027Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1541
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000759 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KDEM MY
SUBJECT: ANWAR WINS RESOUNDING BY-ELECTION VICTORY 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. Anwar Ibrahim appears to have won the 
Permatang Pauh by-election by a wide margin, with early 
reports on the evening of August 26 giving him a two-to-one 
advantage over his Barisan Nasional opponent.  On election 
eve, Anwar had sought to dampen expectations of a landslide 
victory, acknowledging that a relentless, negative BN 
campaign may have had some influence on ethnic-Malayvoters. 
On August 26 PKR contacts also alleged that the ruling 
Barisan Nasional (BN) party brought in "phantom" voters from 
outside the district and used the huge police presence to 
suppress voter turnout, especially in predominately Chinese 
areas.  While early reports indicated voter turnout 
significantly down compared to the election last March, Anwar 
apparently has nevertheless won a resounding victory and will 
be returning to parliament, but not until sometime in 
October, according to the Parliamentary Speaker who controls 
the scheduling of his swearing-in.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) As of mid-evening on August 26, various, sometimes 
contradictory  figures were coming in from official and 
political party sources but all seemed to indicate Anwar on 
top by about a two-to-one margin.  The pro-government New 
Straits Times was reporting 27,629 votes for Anwar and 13,272 
for Arif Shah, with about one-third of the votes remaining to 
be counted.  This seemed to contradict earlier reports that 
only some 38,000 people went to the polls, which would be 
considerably less than in March. All pro-government papers 
were reporting that Anwar had won big, however.  Throughout 
the day, PKR contacts had expressed worries that the heavy 
presence of police, especially in Chinese areas expected to 
vote overwhelmingly for Anwar, was suppressing voter turnout. 
 Poloffs toured these areas, and observed large contingents 
of police in full riot gear in position alongside the road 
near polling places.  Police had also closed a major artery 
in the area, hopelessly snarling traffic.  Later in the day, 
PKR operatives claimed to have stopped several buses 
transporting "Indonesians" into the area to vote for the BN 
candidate, but this was still under investigation. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance appeared to 
dominate the last day of campaigning before the August 26 
Permatang Pauh by-election.  In a tour of the district, from 
the more urban, developed areas across the bridge from the 
Penang metropolis to the more rural, inland Malay area 
bordering on Kedah, Poloffs observed few BN activities of any 
significance, while Anwar's supporters seemed to be 
everywhere.  About 90 percent of those passing vehicles 
choosing to display their political allegiances exhibited 
flags and stickers supporting the PR.  Poloffs saw Deputy 
Prime Minister Najib address a predominantly Malay crowd of a 
few dozen at Penanti, where the scale of the logistical 
operation surrounding the DPM seemed out of proportion to the 
relative insignificance of the gathering.  Arguing that the 
PR was neglecting the Malays, Najib chided the 
opposition-controlled Penang state government for not 
including the sole PAS state assemblymen in the state 
administration.  In the nearby Malay areas, BN banners 
proclaimed "Anwar a traitor to the Malays" and "Anwar will 
sell off Malaysia to foreigners.  One of the BN's last events 
on August 25, a rally featuring two defectors from Anwar's 
PKR party, drew about 50 people, according to a political 
scientist at the local university. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Anwar's campaign culminated with a series of rallies 
with the "grand finale" attracting an overflow crowd of many 
thousands in a carnival atmosphere in a large muddy field 
along the North South Highway.  Anwar's supporters waited 
patiently and good-naturedly for over two hours in a steady 
rain for him to arrive.  Long lines of police and Federal 
Reserve Unit trucks were parked in nearby areas but there was 
no police presence in the immediate vicinity of the rally.  A 
police helicopter shining a spotlight on the crowd drew loud, 
contemptuous reactions from the ethnically-mixed assemblage. 
An elderly Chinese woman standing near Poloffs passionately 
warned a group of Malay youths that they must be especially 
vigilant in regard to the BN bringing in outsiders, who would 
use the identity cards of local residents to cast votes.  She 
claimed that BN operatives had offered her RM500 to borrow 
her identity card with promises of an additional RM2000 if BN 
won the election. When Anwar finally arrived, squeezing his 
way through the rain and mud to the stage, he blasted the 
mainstream Malaysian media for its one-sided coverage of the 
campaign and humorously attempted to defuse BN charges that 
he was an agent of "the Chinese, the Indians, the Jews and 
the Americans" by proclaiming: "I am the only one in the 
world who is an agent of all." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Despite evidence on the ground of overwhelming 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000759  002 OF 002 
 
 
support for Anwar, by August 25 the de facto opposition 
leaders and his increasingly nervous aides were seeking to 
dampen expectations he would win with a huge majority.  In 
addition to the feared manipulations of the vote, Anwar 
reportedly was conceding to reporters that the BN's 
relentless negative campaign against him probably was making 
some inroads among the Malay population.  In the end, 
however, these worries seem to have turned out unfounded. 
 
KEITH 
KEITH