'Pro-establishment' candidates took control of most of the major universities following yesterday's nationwide campus elections, marred by boycotts and allegations of irregularities by their rivals.

Popularly known as 'Aspirasi Kerajaan' (government aspiration), the 'pro-establishment' candidates reigned supreme in Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and Universiti Institut Teknologi Malaysia (UiTM).

Whereas, the 'anti-establishment' teams launched boycotts in UM, UPM and UUM, claiming that they have been subjected to unfair and biased election rules.

However, this faction retained its control in three universities - Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

In UIA, where most students are seen to be PAS sympathisers, 'anti-establishment' candidates won with a landslide victory when the faction lost just a single seat out of 25 seats.

This came about as a surprise as many were expecting a setback due to the implementation of the new e-voting system, the short one-day campaigning period and the reduced number of seats from 37 to 25.

Close fight in USM

In USM, the faction only managed to scrap through with a mere one-seat majority. The team won 19 seats as opposed to 18 by the 'pro-establishment' group. The 'pro-establishment' candidates won seven of them uncontested.

In UTM, a recount was conducted in one seat due to the same number of votes received by two candidates. Here, the 'anti-establishment' faction took 28 of the 45 seats.

According to media reports, the 'anti-establishment' team also succeeded in retaining control in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Perak (UPSI) but malaysiakini could not obtain the results immediately.

Despite the e-voting system, UPM only announced its election result at about 2am today, much to chagrin of students and candidates.

It is learnt that the late announcement was due to the ballot boxes being transported from UPM branches in Kuala Berang, Terengganu, where polling was conducted manually.

Here, 'pro-establishment' candidates won 42 seats while their rivals took six seats.

Clean sweep

It was almost a clean sweep for 'pro-establishment' candidates in UM, who won 36 of the 39 seats up for grabs.

The two seats in the Islamic studies faculty remained vacant as both sides did not nominate anyone. The university will appoint representative to fill the vacancies.

However, this landslide victory in the country's oldest university was an expected one after 22 of the 39 seats went uncontested after nomination closed on Saturday.

It was the first time in eight years that UM was controlled by the 'pro-establishment'.

The coup, was however due to 'anti-establishment' candidates withdrawing in protest after claiming that university officials had refused to endorse their nomination forms without reason.

In UUM, all 39 seats went uncontested to 'pro-establishment' candidates due to a 'anti-establishment' boycott.

Whereas in UKM, 'pro-establishment' candidates won 26 seats and the 'anti-establishment' team five.