Anwar overturns the apple cart

Anwar overturns the apple cart
The Economist - 13 March 2008

THE bravest face the government can put on it is a crestfallen one. The result of the election of March 8th was “a huge setback”, admits Khairy Jamaluddin, a leader of the youth wing of the United Malays National Organisation, UMNO, which dominates the coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence. The reason for Mr Khairy's gloom may not be immediately apparent. He won his seat. UMNO is still much the biggest party in the federal Parliament, where its coalition, the National Front, has a thumping majority (see chart). The Front still forms the government in eight of Malaysia's 13 states. But the huge swing against it has shaken Malaysia's rulers and put in doubt the system of racially-based politics on which their power depends.

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