Malaysia's Mahathir gives tacit support to foe Anwar's party

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad has bestowed tacit support on an opposition party advised by foe(ex prisoner of sungai buloh)Anwar Ibrahim ahead of a crucial state by-election, according to a report Thursday.
The ruling National Front coalition is battling the People's Justice Party, advised by Anwar, to win the seat of Ijok in central Selangor state in a poll seen as a test of popularity for both sides ahead of general elections expected before 2009.
Mahathir warned Ijok residents against voting blindly for the coalition he formerly led and called on them to use the ballot box to express their dissatisfaction with the government.
"Unless you send a signal to the government that, 'Look, if you don't behave yourself, you may not get my vote at the next election,' then the government will say, 'You see, the people are voting for us. We are doing well,'" he said.
"If you don't think (about) what you are doing, you don't use your vote intelligently, then of course, you are to be blamed," he was quoted as telling news website Malaysiankini.com.
Voting takes place on Saturday for the state poll which coincides with the government spending millions of dollars in Ijok for development projects including new street lights and roads.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi used a 90-minute visit to Ijok to urge residents to vote for the National Front.
Abdullah, who is the chairman of the coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, also urged party workers to ensure victory.
"From my long experience in politics, voters can change their mind within 24 hours," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
The People's Justice Party, meanwhile, is counting on Anwar, sacked as deputy premier by Mahathir in 1998, to win votes.
Campaigning has been tense, with scuffles between the two sides and accusations from Anwar of illegitimate phantom voters on the electoral roll -- a charge Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has dismissed as baseless.
Mahathir said if Ijok voters were swayed by the new projects, they would only have themselves to blame if a "rotten" government was voted in.
"If you vote (National Front) because you get a lot of money or because you get a lot of projects, you may get a rotten government which uses money in order to buy your vote," he said.
He also lamented what he said was blind support for the National Front, or Barisan Nasional, by its supporters.
"They don't care whether it is a good government or not. We are Barisan people. We vote Barisan. No assessment, no study ... That's why I say a country deserves the government it gets," he said.
Mahathir, 81, has attacked the administration Abdullah's for months, levelling accusations of economic mismanagement, nepotism and corruption.
Mahathir is a member of the dominant United Malays National Organisation in the National Front coalition, which is led by Abdullah.

tunku: First of all, Tun Mahathir did not said that he backs anwar's party.he was just telling the voters to voice out their concerns. if they think they are happy with the current leadership, vote them in, otherwise vote them out.we need to send some signal to the leadership so that they don't take our support for granted.mainstream media for sure will spin this story.i somehow wishing the opposition to win this although i hates them, but this is only way to send signal to the current leadership.Ijok has seen millions of tax payers money spent on it.