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The vote opened on Saturday during a by-election that should see Malaysian charismatic politician Anwar Ibrahim win a parliamentary seat and return to active politics as he prepares for his eventual succession to Prime Minister Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Anwar was named as the successor to Mahathir, his former enemy turned allied after setting aside political nonsense and joining forces to win a stellar victory in May's general election. Anwar was unable to participate in the polls because of a sodomy sentence passed in 2015 – a charge that he said was political in nature – but he was released after receiving a benefit. Royal thanks a few days after the election.
Thousands of voters gathered in the polling stations of the coastal city of Port Dickson, in the south of the coast, where Anwar is fighting for a seat with six other candidates. We expect him to win easily.
Two weeks of campaign saw the bigwigs gather for Anwar, including Mahathir and several ministers.
The Electoral Commission said it expects a turnout of more than 75,000 voters in Port Dickson, a very popular retreat, at 70 percent. She will announce the results on Saturday night.
Anwar was once a prominent member of the former ruling coalition, but he was convicted of bribery and homosexuality after a power struggle in 1998 with Mahathir, prime minister for 22 years, until he was in power. In 2003 Anwar was released in 2004 and sentenced in 2015. Again sodomy – charges, he said, were invented to destroy his political career.
Irritated by a monumental scandal linked to a public investment fund, Mahathir made a political comeback and the two forged a new alliance of the opposition for a paid bet.
Mahathir, who is the world's oldest leader at 93, said he hoped to be in office for at least two years and that he would keep his promise to hand over power to Anwar.
Mahathir is rooted for his successor at a rally on Monday night in Port Dickson, calling on voters to support their alliance to address Malaysia's financial woes due to the previous government's corruption. It was the first time that the two men shared the same political scene in 20 years.
Anwar, in speeches ending his campaign on Friday, promised that he would not meddle with Mahathir's governance and focus on parliamentary reforms.
"There will be a lot of attention on (its margin of victory) but it's making a story about something that's not really important." The bottom line is that it's wins and attention needs to focus on what he's going to do in parliament and its relationship with members of the government, "said Bridget Welsh, lecturer in political science at John Cabot University from Rome.
