Kuala Lumpur, Nov. 5 (BNA): Malaysian political leaders kicked off their election campaign on Saturday for a tight race, with incumbent Prime Minister Ismail Sabri facing war veterans Anwar Ibrahim and Muhyiddin Yassin.
Opinion polls and analysts say no single party or coalition will win a simple majority in the 222-seat parliament, and that opposing coalitions will have to meet to form the next government.
About 21 million Malaysians are eligible to vote in the November 19 elections, with inflation and recent political instability high on their minds against the backdrop of a slowing economy. Malaysia has had three prime ministers since the last elections in 2018.
Ismail, former Prime Minister Muhyiddin and the two rival coalitions are headed by long-time opposition leader Anwar. There are several other parties in the competition, including one founded by another former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, a factor expected to split votes more than ever.
“This is the first time we have seen three equally strong alliances with experienced leaders competing,” said Adeeb Zelkapley, a director at political consultancy Bower Group Asia.
He said there is a high probability that there will be no clear winner in the elections, and that coalitions will have to negotiate to form a government.
The official Bernama news agency reported that Prime Minister Ismail, who is from the Barisan National Alliance, said there were no easy victories in any parliamentary seats in this election.
He and other leaders submitted their nominations on Saturday, the official start of the two-week campaign period.
The elections come as the Malaysian economy is expected to cool down due to the global slowdown, hampering recovery from the recession caused by the pandemic. Inflation is also rising, with the Malaysian central bank raising interest rates this week for the fourth time in a row.
In the last elections in 2018, Malaysia’s opposition combined to defeat Barisan, who has ruled the country without interruption for 60 years since independence from British rule.
Barisan, led by Najib Razak, was facing widespread outrage over the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal and other corruption allegations. Najib began a 12-year prison sentence this year for corruption.
The opposition then included Anwar, Muhyiddin and Mahathir, but their alliance collapsed after only 22 months in power due to infighting. Leaders are not working together in this election.
Corruption-tainted Barisan returned to power as part of another coalition after the collapse of the opposition coalition.
An opinion poll conducted by the independent pollster Merdeka on Friday showed that no coalition alone would be able to win a majority, and that three or more coalitions would have to come together to form a new government.
The poll also showed that of the three major coalitions, Anwar was the most favored by voters – at 26%, although nearly 31% of voters have yet to decide who to vote for. Barisan came second with 24%.
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