Malaysia's Mahathir asks voters to "send a signal"

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 26 (Reuters) Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad has urged voters to send a signal to the ruling coalition and refuse to let a ''rotten government'' buy their support, an online newspaper said today.

Mahathir's comments, in an interview with Malaysiakini, raises the stakes in his year-long tirade of criticism against his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as the country prepares for an expected general election in the next 12 months.

Malaysiakini (www.malaysiakini.com) quoted Mahathir, who ruled for 22 years before handing over to Abdullah in 2003, as saying supporters of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition should use a by-election on Saturday to send the government a message.

''If you vote 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,'' it quoted him as saying.

''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 added. But Mahathir stopped short of calling on voters to choose the candidate from the opposition Keadilan (Justice) party of his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, in the state assembly by-election.

Mahathir fired Anwar as deputy premier before Anwar was jailed for corruption and sodomy -- the latter charge subsequently overturned.

Barisan said it is spending about 10 million dollar in Ijok, a tiny constituency of about 12,000 voters outside the capital, on roads, schools and other infrastructure. State assembly elections normally do not attract this much attention, but Barisan is trying to snuff out Anwar's attempt at a political comeback.

Heavy state spending in pro-government seats has a long history in Malaysia and was also a feature of Mahathir's reign.

Anwar, released from six years' jail in 2004 after the sodomy conviction was overturned but still barred from standing for political office himself, is campaigning strenuously for the Keadilan candidate in the coalition-held seat.

Anwar is banned from standing for parliament because of his 1999 conviction for corruption but the ban expires in April 2008.

Elections are not due until 2009, but some analysts think they could be called before next April to forestall an Anwar comeback.

Mahathir chose Abdullah as his successor but turned against him last year, after the new administration scrapped some projects that had been conceived under Mahathir's leadership, including a big rail project and a proposed bridge to Singapore.

An aide to Mahathir, who attended the Malaysiakini interview, said the former premier had not called for a protest vote.

''All he was saying was vote wisely. He was not saying that you should vote for the opposition or for the BN,'' the aide said.

An official in Prime Minister Abdullah's office expressed surprise at Mahathir's comments on the by-election and said Mahathir, as a past Barisan chairman, should leave no doubt in anyone's mind about his support for the coalition.

''If what he meant was not to vote for Barisan then that is hitting below the belt,'' said Wan Farid Wan Salleh, political secretary to the prime minister.

REUTERS JS PM1450