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Article: Malaysian opposition Islamic party gears up for elections without Mahathir as adversary
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- September 11, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightProvided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Dateline: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
Malaysia's Islamic party opened its annual meeting Thursday and moved
into high gear to face general elections without a familiar foe _
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
The feisty 77-year-old leader, who transformed Malaysia into one of
Southeast Asia's wealthiest countries, will step down in the next
couple of months, depriving his fundamentalist opponents of a target
they loved to hate as an emblem of the ills of modern society.
But Mahathir's retirement after 22 years in power will also give the
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, the nation's largest opposition group,
a new opportunity to take control of more of Malaysia's 13 states
as ...