Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim won a "landslide" victory yesterday in a by-election to return him to parliament, and said he was on track to oust a weakened government.
The vote in his home state of Penang cemented a stunning comeback for Anwar, who was sacked as deputy premier a decade ago and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.
"We declare victory, the margin is very huge," said Tian Chua, information chief of Anwar's Keadilan party which leads a three-member opposition alliance.
"I think it's a landslide victory," he said, adding that Anwar's share of the vote could rise as high as 70 percent.
The official tally showed Anwar had won 27,977 votes, against 13,426 for his opponent from the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has dominated Malaysian politics for half a century.