One of the more colorful fights in coming general election on March 21 will be between a brother of the king and a renowned faith healer.

The champion for the ruling Barisan Nasional for the Arau parliamentary seat in the northern Perlis state will be Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail, a businessman and youngest brother of King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin.

Opposing him for the fundamentalist Islamic party PAS is popular Muslim scholar and healer Harun Din, who draws hundreds to clinics where he dispenses cures for everything from stomach aches to evil spirits.

The BN's playing of the royal card reflects its awareness of Harun's popularity in a state where PAS made strong inroads in the last election, the New Straits Times said.

The position of king in Malaysia is rotated every five years among state royalty, and the Malay aristocracy has long played a part in politics.

Royal beating

The country's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was the son of the Sultan of the state of Kedah.

An analyst for a government-linked think-tank predicted, however, that this time the king's brother would get a royal beating.

"Putting an unknown politician against Harun will give PAS an easy win. Today, the power of the villagers is strong and Harun goes down to the villagers."

PAS already controls two of Malaysia's 13 states and presents the main challenge to the BN, but its ability to form a federal government is limited by its lack of appeal to Malaysia's large non-Muslim minorities. - AFP