Ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, humiliated in a string of by-elections losses over the past year, faces a further bruising contest as authorities today announced another vote in May.

penanti state seat penang 200409 "It will be an uphill battle for Barisan Nasional. The opposition alliance will have no problem in regaining the seat as long as there is no internal sabotage," said James Chin from Monash University's Kuala Lumpur campus.

He said that in deciding whether to contest the Penang vote, Najib must decide "whether he wants to face another defeat."

The Election Commission said a by-election would be held in Penang on May 31, for a seat in the state legislature after the resignation of a senior member of the opposition coalition which rules the state.

Penang deputy chief minister Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin quit last month after he was investigated for alleged corruption, saying his departure would "allow me the space to clear my name."

The ruling BN coalition, which suffered its worst losses in March 2008 general election that saw the opposition seize five states and a third of parliamentary seats, is considering not contesting the by-election.

"We are not afraid of losing to them but it is a sheer waste of public funds," Najib said earlier this month.

Defeated in four by-elections

Political parties must nominate by May 23 their candidates for the vote.

Barisan Nasional has lost four of the five by-elections held since the national polls a year ago.

Najib was dealt a major rebuke within days of being sworn in earlier this month, losing two of three by-elections held on April 7 in a result the opposition said indicated voters had rejected the new premier.

The votes were seen as a referendum on Najib and his ambitious agenda to reform the ruling party Umno and repair ties with the nation's ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

-AFP