Malaysia polls turn into fight for moral high ground

By Jalil Hamid

KOTA BARU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysia's election is turning into a battle for the religious high ground among majority Muslims, with the prime minister's party offering to build or repair at least 500 mosques to woo voters.

Malaysia goes to the polls on March 8, with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's UMNO party seeking to regain the northeastern Kelantan state from an Islamic party that has been in power there since 1990.

The fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), led by clerics who promote "purer" Islamic values, is locked in a tough poll battle with UMNO now playing the same religious card.

"If we want to build mosques, is there something wrong with it?" said Awang Adek Hussin, a deputy minister heading the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) campaign in Kelantan.

Awang Adek, a former central banker, recalled that the first thing Prophet Mohammad did when he migrated to Madina from Mecca was to build a mosque.

"When we win, we will usher in a new era in Kelantan by building a grand mosque," he said on Sunday in Kelantan's capital, adding that UMNO has also pledged to repair some 500 old mosques in the state.

The fight for Muslim votes is also an issue in neighbouring Terengganu state, traditionally a PAS stronghold.

"UMNO and PAS are engaged in a battle: 'I'm more Islamic than you are'," said political analyst Ooi Kee Beng.