Malaysia's prime minister office is pictured in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Oct 20, 2022. (VINCENT THIAN / AP)
Malaysia is gearing up for an intense political campaign season, with various coalitions and former top leaders vying for power in general elections next month.
Ten days after former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is now serving in caretaker capacity, announced the dissolution of parliament, Election Commission Chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said on Oct 20 that Malaysia’s 15th General Election, or GE15, will be held on Nov 19.
Candidate nomination day has been set for Nov 5, paving way for a 14-day campaigning period. Early voting is scheduled for Nov 15
Candidate nomination day has been set for Nov 5, paving way for a 14-day campaigning period. Early voting is scheduled for Nov 15.
There will be 363,515 election workers who will operate 8,958 voting centers across the country to serve a total of 21,173,638 registered voters, an election official said.
The United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, which dominates the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, is seen as the strongest party going into GE15. UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is fielding Ismail Sabri as the party’s candidate for prime minister if BN wins the election.
Despite its strong position, BN is facing tough competition from other parties. Its former ally — the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) — has joined hands with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to form the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. The opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH), which ended BN’s 60-year reign in the 2018 elections, has scheduled a convention late in the evening on Oct 20 to prepare for GE15.
Mahathir Mohamad, a former prime minister who led the PH coalition during the historic 2018 polls, will run again in GE15 but under a different party following his split with PH.
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Mahathir, who represents the northern Malaysian district of Langkawi, will defend his parliamentary seat under the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition. The GTA is yet to choose its nominee for prime minister but Mahathir has said in previous media interviews that he is willing to take the reins of his nation again “if there’s a request”.
Analysts are expecting a hung parliament, with no coalition seen winning a simple majority. They noted that BN, GTA and PN are all appealing to Malay voters, splitting the voting base of Malaysia’s ethnic majority.
“Mahathir is a spent force in this election,” said Wong Chin Huat, political scientist at the Kuala Lumpur-based Sunway University. Wong said GTA, which was only formed in August, will be contesting in an “overcrowded market of Malay-Muslim nationalist voters”. UMNO, PAS and Mahathir’s former party Bersatu provide “better appeal” to the Malay voters.
Hafidzi Razali, senior analyst at risk consultancy firm BowerGroupAsia, does not expect the PH to be able to replicate its victory of the 2018 elections.
The states of Perak, Perlis and Pahang have also dissolved their legislatures and state polls will be held concurrently with the national elections
Hafidzi said a high voter turnout and united front are required in order for the opposition to cause an upset in GE15. He does not foresee the PH and PN joining forces anytime soon as they have “competing interests”. Meanwhile, the monsoon season might deter people from going to polling booths, resulting in lower voter turnout.
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“These two factors may swing the favor to Barisan Nasional,” he said.
But Wong, from Sunway University, said the monsoon season might, in fact, be a deciding factor for GE15. He said flooding will affect many constituencies or even cause postponement of elections and this might push “middle ground voters” to blame the BN for calling snap polls in the middle of a monsoon season.
“Voters who originally (didn’t) plan to vote may turn up to punish BN. On the other hand, BN may do well if (some) floods happen during the campaign period,” he said.
Ismail Sabri announced the dissolution of the parliament on Oct 10 after receiving the consent of the Malaysia’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah. A general election must be held within 60 days of Parliament’s dissolution.
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The states of Perak, Perlis and Pahang have also dissolved their legislatures and state polls will be held concurrently with the national elections. But six other states — three under the PH and the other three led by PAS — decided not to dissolve their assemblies. PH is the ruling party in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang while the states under PAS rule are Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.
prime@chinadailyhk.com
With Xinhua inputs