KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 21 (UPI) -- Voters Sunday gave Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi the big win he had asked for.
The ruling coalition won a landslide victory in the general election, with more than a two-thirds majority of 146 seats.
Most importantly, the Barisan managed to take away a state held by the Islamist Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) in the northern Malay heartlands. PAS' big guns fell like tenpins. Party president Abdul Hadi Awang and secretary-general Nasharudin Mat Isa lost their seats in Parliament.
A glum looking PAS chief conceded defeat in Terengganu and told The Straits Times he was "shocked" by the thumping his party had suffered.
There was still uncertainty about who won in Kelantan, which PAS has also ruled since 1990.
The results are a sign Malaysian voters did not buy PAS' "votes-for-heaven" line -- that only its backers would merit a place in paradise.
Instead, they appeared to prefer the more moderate Islam of the prime minister, who had identified the role of religion in Malaysian society as a key issue in the election. Voters also signaled their backing for the new PM's moves to fight corruption, improve the civil service and keep the economy buzzing.
