Last night, on the eve of Malaysia's 10th general election, the most prominent opposition politician made a final tour of her constituency in Penang state. But there was something missing.
Despite the presence of the biggest and most ecstatic crowds of the eight-day campaign, there wasn't a single Malaysian television crew present to record the tumultuous progress of Dr Wan Azizah at the head of a convoy of 30 cars.
Thus did this bitter election battle end as it began, with the country's media ignoring the opposition except to revile it, and giving blanket coverage instead to the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, and other government candidates.
Dr Mahathir seems assured of victory in today's poll, in which 9.6 million voters will be asked to cast their ballots for 193 parliamentary seats. Dr Mahathir badly wants to hang on to his overwhelming majority in parliament, if only as vindication of his handling of the affair which has split the ethnic Malay community - the dismissal and imprisonment of his deputy prime minister, Mr Anwar Ibrahim, on sex and corruption charges.
The opposition must increase its total of seats from 27 to 65 to rob the government of the twothirds majority which gives it sweeping powers, but even if it approaches that figure, it could be interpreted here as a vote of no confidence in the 73-year-old Prime Minister.
Analysts in Kuala Lumpur say that Dr Mahathir is desperate to win a final landslide victory so that he can nominate his successor next year and determine his legacy after almost two decades in office. Mr Anwar's wife, Dr Azizah, leads Keadilan, one of four parties in an opposition coalition demanding reform. She is realistic about their slender chances of winning, so deeply entrenched in Malaysian society is the government coalition majority party, UMNO (the United Malays National Organisation). But her party seems assured of taking some seats from UMNO in northern Malaysia, where Mr Anwar remains popular.
Dr Mahathir on Saturday accused Dr Azizah of using her family to win votes by appealing to people's emotions. She "goes around with her daughter crying and telling people she is now without her husband, the children are without their father," he told an UMNO rally in her constituency.
Yesterday opposition leaders called off a mass rally in Kuala Lumpur. "If a violent incident was provoked the government could use it to discredit us," said an organiser. Dr Azizah said: "We are telling our supporters to cool it and lie low."
Yesterday in his home state of Kedah, Dr Mahathir attacked Parti Islam se-Malaysia (Pas), the biggest opposition party, saying its newspaper had published lies about him. "They hope that by slandering the government leaders and my family, the Muslims will reject me, UMNO and Barisan Nasional (the ruling National Front)," he said.
In an election where the candidate with the highest vote takes the seat, the size of Dr Mahathir's support against a Pas candidate in Kedah will be a telling indicator of the mood of the electorate. His defeat would cause an earthquake in UMNO.
Pas leaders said yesterday they had discovered fake copies of their party newspaper Harakah, carrying stories which purportedly quoted Pas and opposition leaders as making pro-Mahathir remarks.