Malaysian parties court ethnic voters ahead of polls

With 48 hours left for Malaysians to vote for a new government, the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition party and the opposition alliance are going all out to woo the three ethnic communities which make up this Muslim-majority nation.
The last elections in 2008 saw Barisan Nasional coalition, which has ruled the country for 56 years, not getting its two-thirds majority.
Ethnic Indians in huge numbers shied away from the ruling party and supported the opposition alliance complaining that for years the minority community had been marginalised.
However, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has advised voters in constituencies won by the opposition in the last general election not to repeat their mistake of voting for the opposition candidates again.

The prime minister said that after five years, they could see for themselves the failure of their elected representatives and also of the states ruled by the opposition, adding they still had a chance to rectify the situation.
"The mistake made can be rectified on May 5. You were misguided before. It's alright. It's alright to make a mistake once. Don't make the same mistake twice," he told one of his election gathering.

Meanwhile, intimidation and violence by supporters of Barisan Nasional and the opposition risk undermining the May 5 general election, Human Rights Watch has warned.
The New York-based NGO asked political leaders to "rein in their supporters" before the country holds the 13th general elections.

"Election violence threatens the right of all Malaysians to vote for the party of their choice," Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of HRW.
Human Rights Watch urged Malaysian police to fully and impartially investigate alleged attacks on party members and supporters on both sides.
In another development, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a former aide of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, has released a video of oath according to Islamic Shariah principles in Mecca, in which he swears that Anwar Ibrahim sodomised him.
He showed the video to reporters at a press conference today, and said this was proof that his claims were not a political conspiracy.