From The Singapore Straits Times
31st March 2001

Last thing Umno wants - by-election

After Datuk Fauzi Rahman resigned as the state assemblyman for Beserah in Pahang, the ruling party is forced to defend a seat it barely won from PAS

By Brendan Pereira
MALAYSIA CORRESPONDENT

KUALA LUMPUR - The last thing Malaysia's ruling coalition wanted was a by-election in the unforgiving Malay heartland. It got one yesterday. Datuk Fauzi Rahman resigned as the state assemblyman for Beserah in Pahang.

The former deputy minister said that he came to that decision after being unable to obtain enough nominations to defend the Kuantan Umno division chief's position.

He said that it was only appropriate that he vacate the state seat as party members in the area did not support him.

He also alleged that corruption was rife in the nomination process for office-bearers at divisional polls.

It is understood that party leaders in Pahang were trying to get the 55-year-old to change his mind, knowing that the ruling party cannot afford another cycle of dirty linen being washed in public.

Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Adnan Yaacob led the charm offensive, saying that Datuk Fauzi was a competent state assemblyman, who had set up his own service centre and who worked the ground from 10 am till 1 am.

The Straits Times understands that Datuk Fauzi has met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad a number of times with a litany of complaints.

But the Premier - who has a full plate trying to unite his party and contain a resurgent opposition - was unimpressed with the threats to resign.

He said that Umno members who did not receive enough nominations to contest next month's divisional polls should not create problems for the party.

Datuk Fauzi agreed with Dr Mahathir's observation. He said: 'I am not causing any problems for my party. I am withdrawing.'

His action will give the ruling coalition some grief. Barisan Nasional will face an uphill task retaining the Beserah seat.

The constituency is in a state where Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) made significant inroads at the general election, winning eight state seats and losing a clutch by under 1,000 votes.

So impressive was the showing by the opposition party that PAS leaders predict that Pahang will fall into its hands in 2004, the year the next polls are scheduled.

In Beserah, Datuk Fauzi defeated his challenger from PAS by an uncomfortable margin of 985 votes.

His supporters say that he was able to win because many Malays who were unhappy with the administration's treatment of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim still cast their ballot for him.

The reason: he was a close friend of the former deputy prime minister and was never shy to say so even after the former DPM was jailed for corruption.

His supporters say that with his resignation, that bloc of pro-Anwar support will go to the opposition candidate and propel him into the state assembly.

PAS says that it is confident of victory in a by-election because its members have been on election mode every day since the last general election.

Also, there is fresh ammunition to attack the government.

On Wednesday, Datuk Fauzi lodged a police report against Information Minister Tan Sri Khalil Yaacob.

In it, he alleged that while Tan Sri Khalil was the mentri besar of Pahang, he contravened the national forestry policy and allowed an area larger than 11,312 ha to be harvested for timber.

There is also another reason why a by-election now is bad news for Barisan Nasional.

A contest has to be held 60 days after the resignation is accepted by the Election Commission.

As such, polling will come close on the heels of the Umno divisional election, scheduled for next month and early May.

Party members will be focused on keeping their positions in the party, rather than campaigning for a state seat with little bearing on their personal well-being.

Hardly the ideal preparations for a party trying to stave off a resurgent opposition.

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A politician in the limelight

KUALA LUMPUR - Datuk Fauzi Rahman (right) is hardly someone anybody would describe as a controversial politician. But he has had his fair share of the limelight.

The former deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department was accused of expressing support for Anwar Ibrahim two years ago at the opening of two Umno divisional meetings in Kelantan.

Following his remarks, calls were made for him to be sacked from the party, and a state leader even said that he sent tapes of Datuk Fauzi's remarks to party president Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But Datuk Fauzi stood his ground, insisting that all he said at the meeting was: 'I am not ashamed to say Anwar is a friend but what is important is loyalty to the leaders and that is the way to save the party.'

In the 1999 general election, he won the Beserah state seat with a 985-vote majority.

Barely weeks after Barisan Nasional was returned to power in Pahang, he was unwittingly in the limelight again.

This time, he was asked to leave Istana Abu Bakar in Pekan before the swearing-in of new Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, who took over from Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob, who contested and won the Kuantan parliamentary seat. --The Star/Asia News Network