Published: March 5, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia’s first astronaut and other top celebrities have been sprinkling a touch of stardust on this weekend’s elections, aiding the ruling coalition’s campaign to convince voters that the opposition has little popular appeal.
More than 1,000 villagers cheered as Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who became Malaysia’s first space traveler last October, appeared at a campaign stop Wednesday with Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak in northeastern Terengganu state.
Najib said he brought Sheikh Muszaphar to illustrate the difference between the ruling National Front coalition and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, an opposition group that is challenging the government for the support of the ethnic Malay Muslim majority.
“PAS uses the moon as its party symbol, but we sent a Muslim man to space,” Najib said, encouraging the crowd to pose for photographs with the 35-year-old astronaut.
Wearing a blue space jumpsuit, Sheikh Muszaphar stole the limelight as people mobbed him on a red carpet and appeared to ignore Najib, who sat on a stage.
Today in Asia - Pacific
Celebrities rarely get involved in politics in Malaysia, but the ruling coalition has recruited several big names to help it campaign — mainly in rural areas — as part of a publicity blitz to spark excitement among voters bored with politicians.
Malaysia’s most popular female singer, Siti Nurhaliza, belted out her hits at a lunch for elderly citizens hosted by the prime minister’s wife in a northern village earlier this week.
Siti urged her fans voting in Saturday’s general elections to “make the best decision based on what the government has given, so that we can live comfortably and peacefully.”
The National Front has long relied on rural support to help maintain its two-thirds majority in the country’s parliament. But it has faced growing criticism from opposition groups that accuse authorities of failing to fight poverty and to speed up rural development.
The celebrities’ comments mostly focus on the National Front’s economic achievements.
However, rap performer Norman Abdul Halim earlier this week criticized PAS for curbing entertainment in Kelantan state, the only one of Malaysia’s 13 states not controlled by the National Front.
“Entertainment has become a necessity and is no longer a luxury,” the rapper told The Star daily.
PAS banned nightclubs and rock concerts after it came to power in Kelantan in 1990, saying it wanted to rid the state of immoral entertainment.
source : International Herald Tribune
