Malaysia’s Upcoming Elections are posed to be a Battleground of Uncertainty

The remarkable victory Malaysia’s largest opposition party achieved in 2018 is quickly becoming a distant memory. The upcoming general election in the country will take place on Saturday, and political experts predict it will be filled with more drama than usual.

Pakatan Harapan, a coalition of opposition parties, ousted the Barisan Nasional government from office in 2014, making it the first time in the previous 60 years that the Barisan Nasional has been removed from power. In the wake of allegations that he had stolen billions of dollars from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, former Prime Minister Najib Razak could not be reelected, leading the Barisan coalition to defeat.

However, the victory of Pakatan was short-lived due to internal strife and the defection of coalition members. After serving as chairman and prime minister for a second time, Mahathir Mohamad resigned after 22 months in office, which led to the coalition’s dissolution. Since then, the nation in Southeast Asia has been led by three different prime ministers.

Due to the ongoing political unrest in Malaysia which is famous for luxury hotels, tourism, pubs, casino NetBet gaming parlour, beaches, many political parties and coalitions will compete in the country’s general election on November 19. Pakatan Harapan is one of these political parties, and its new leader, Anwar Ibrahim, is hoping to become prime minister after being passed over for over twenty years. Pakatan Harapan is hoping for a more secure victory this time, and Anwar Ibrahim is hoping to become prime minister.

At the country’s 15th general elections, which will take place on Saturday, there will be a record number of 945 candidates vying for 222 seats in parliament. Norshahril Saat, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, highlights the democratic nature of the election that will take place this year. However, it is unclear whether or not this is a positive development.

What to anticipate before the day of the election?

Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, dissolved the parliament at the beginning of October to set up early elections.

Every five years, there is a general election for the United States Congress, and the next one is supposed to take place in 2019. The beginning of the campaign was on November 5th. The government will be formed by the party or coalition of parties that achieves a simple majority of 112 seats in the House of Representatives.

Following the passage of a measure in the Malaysian parliament that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, an additional 3 million Malaysians were able to exercise their right to vote, bringing the total number of eligible voters in the country to over 21 million.

Which parties should be kept an eye on?

Pakatan Harapan is the most significant opposition alliance, fielding 206 candidates, which is the greatest number of any coalition. In addition to Pakatan Harapan, the current ruling party, Barisan Nasional, will be included in the lottery for reelection.

United Malays National Organisation, the nation’s oldest political party, is a founding member of the country’s longest-ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, the longest-ruling coalition in the country’s history (UMNO). One of the 178 candidates running for election under the Barisan Nasional umbrella is Prime Minister Yaakob, affiliated with UMNO.

The other coalition that deserves your attention is Perikatan Nasional, which has filed 149 candidates. After members of Pakatan Harapan defected and created Perikatan in 2020, the new political party quickly rose to prominence and won widespread support. Since then, the party insurrection has been dubbed the “Sheraton Move,” so-called because the meeting of traitorous members took place at the Sheraton Hotel.