Malaysia’s Upcoming State Elections: Issues, Players, and Potential Outcomes
Malaysia held elections in six states on 12 August 2023. While state elections generally address state and local issues, these elections were widely touted as a barometer of public sentiment towards the federal “unity government”, led by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition with the support of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and others. It had been said that a poor outcome for them might destabilise the federal government and open up opportunities for the opposition coalition, Perikatan Nasional (PN), to garner allies in parliament and replace the PH-led government.
Prior to the dissolution of the six state assemblies, three states (Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Penang) were ruled by PH parties, while Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah were led by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) of PN. While PH enjoyed the support of non-Malay minorities, the majority of Malay voters had voted for other parties in the last general election, in particular, PAS and Bersatu of the PN coalition. If this trend became more salient in the state elections, PH’s political legitimacy could be undermined.
In this context, the Malaysia Programme at RSIS hosted a webinar titled “Malaysia’s Upcoming State Elections: Issues, Players, and Potential Outcomes” on 10 August 2023. The speakers at the webinar were Ibrahim “Ben” Suffian, Programs Director at Merdeka Center, and Shahril Hamdan, Visiting Fellow at the Malaysia Programme at RSIS. The webinar covered drivers of voter sentiment towards the major parties and coalitions; public views on racial politics, religion, good governance, and reform; and what to look out for in the state elections as well as the likely outcomes.
Analysis of the Malaysia’s State Elections Results and their Implications
The results were that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling PH coalition and its partner in government, BN, retained control over three states – Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Penang. While opposition Perikatan Nasional retained Kelantan, Kedah,and Terengganu.
Hosted by the Malaysia Programme at RSIS on 19 August 2023, the webinar titled, “Analysis of the Malaysia’s State Elections Results and their Implications” featured Ibrahim “Ben” Suffian, Programs Director at Merdeka Center and Shahril Hamdan, Visiting Fellow at the Malaysia Programme at RSIS. The webinar discussed what the results meant, drivers of voter sentiment, and the implications for each coalition and the unity government.
Ben Suffian provided Merdeka Center’s preliminary analysis of the election results, which closely aligned with its pre-election survey findings. He ended his discussion with insights on the impact of the elections results on Malaysia’s political landscape in the near and medium term. Shahril’s presentation focussed on the role and qualities portrayed by key personalities during the elections. The webinar concluded with a Q&A session with questions posed by both the chairperson and the members of the audience.
