BY-ELECTION PERMATANG PAUH ~ MALAYSIA's ANWAR WON ?

ANWAR IS LEADING BY NEARLY 13,000 VOTES AS AT 9PM

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is leading the vote count in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election as of 9pm Tuesday night.

The preliminary vote count showed that at 9pm, Anwar was leading by 12,912 votes after securing 23,674 votes compared to Barisan Nasional (BN)'s Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah's 10,762 and Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim) Hanafi Mamat (72).

The vote-tallying, which started at 6.35pm, was still in progress at the Aminuddin Baki Hall of the Tuanku Bainun Teacher's Institute.

A total of 38,144 or 65.45 per cent of the 58,459 voters cast their votes in the by-election at the close of polling at 5pm.

The official result is expected to be announced at 10pm.

Meanwhile, PKR election machinery director in Penang, Mustafa Kamal Mohd Yusof said Anwar was leading by 15,000 votes.

MALAYSIA OPPOSITION CLAIMS VICTORY FOR ANWAR

PERMATANG PAUH, Malaysia - Malaysia's opposition has claimed a landslide victory for its leader, Anwar Ibrahim, in a special election.

Anwar's People's Justice Party said he is expected to win at least 70 percent of Tuesday's vote for a seat in Parliament. Anwar is pitted against the governing National Front coalition's Arif Shah Omar Shah in Permatang Pauh.

Tian Chua, an official of the Justice Party, told The Associated Press that there is "firm indication of a landslide victory for Anwar."

Chua says the voters have given "a sound endorsement to Anwar." He says Anwar is expected to get at least 70 percent of the vote.

Anwar's supporters were citing partial results, based on counting being conducted by the Election Commission.

MALAYSIA's ANWAR WON 61 PERCENT OF VOTE : PARTY EXIT POLLS?

PERMATANG PAUH, Malaysia (AFP) - - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's party said Tuesday its exit polls indicate he has won 61 percent of the votes in a by-election expected to return him to parliament.

"From our exit poll figures and what we are tracking, Anwar is safely leading in the polls and... I think that it is right to say about 61 percent," said Sivarasa Rasiah, vice president of the Keadilan party.

Sivarasa said that Anwar's opponent from the Barisan Nasional coalition, Arif Shah Omar Shah, had garnered about 39 percent of the vote.

"We are still not declaring victory as we will wait for the official election results from the Election Commission," he told AFP.

OVER 26,000 HAVE CAST THEIR VOTES BY NOON

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Nearly half of the 58,459 constituents in Permatang Pauh have cast their votes in the by-election as of noon today.

Election Commission secretary Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor said 26,914 or 42.98 per cent of the voters had exercised their rights as of noon but the figure, though inspiring, was slow to pick up due to the traffic jams in the polling areas.

Rain in areas like Seberang Jaya and Sama Gagah since noon is expected to affect the voter turnout. The Meteorological Department had forecast rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

BY-ELECTION PERMATANG PAUH

PERMATANG PAUH, Malaysia (AFP) - - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he was confident of victory Tuesday as he cast his vote in a by-election set to return him to parliament after 10 years in the wilderness.

Victory would bolster his bid to seize the reins of political power in what would be a remarkable comeback a decade after he was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges.

Hundreds of his supporters shouted the opposition battlecry of "Reformasi" (reform) as Anwar arrived at a polling station here with his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, flanked by a dozen bodyguards.

"God-willing, I'm confident of winning," a cheerful Anwar told reporters after casting his ballot. "The people are extremely enthusiastic about voting. We are entering parliament with a clear agenda."

However, he criticised the government's intensely negative campaign which focused on new sodomy allegations against him, saying the results were likely to be skewed by electoral fraud and vote-rigging.

"This is the most sickening election. They attack me, saying I am pro-Jewish which is an act of desperation," he said.

"We fear fraud. We are not happy with the ballot list.

"It's not Anwar versus the other candidate, it's Anwar versus the entire government machinery," he added, as a police helicopter circled overhead at the voting centre located in a stronghold of his Keadilan party.