KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim faces his third electoral test this year when the state of Melaka goes to the polls tomorrow, after a frantic week in which a key minister quit over the controversial transfer of jailed former PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak to house arrest.
The state election comes as Anwar confronts renewed calls from Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for an early national vote. The election is also the first since Anwar unveiled a voter-friendly budget last month.
Melaka, a state of about one million people known for tourism and high-tech manufacturing, borders the states of Johor and Negeri Sembilan, where Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance saw major electoral setbacks earlier this year. PH held only five of the outgoing Melaka assembly’s 28 seats, compared with 20 for Barisan Nasional (BN), the powerful bloc which ruled Malaysia for more than half a century until elections in 2018.
BN supporters are in an ebullient mood after their former leader Najib, who remains popular in his party despite multiple convictions for corruption in the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, was allowed to leave prison for house arrest. BN is led by Zahid’s powerful United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which paid a RM50 million fine to get Najib released.
Cabinet under pressure after Loke resignation
The move has angered members of Anwar’s voting bloc, and Transport Minister Anthony Loke on Tuesday announced his resignation. Loke is also chief of the Democratic Action Party, which has the most parliamentary seats among parties within the PH bloc, and there have been calls for Anwar to remove Umno ministers from his Cabinet.
“At this point, it seems that the sustainability of the Cabinet is no longer viable although Anwar still has sufficient numbers in Parliament,” International Islamic University of Malaysia political scientist Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said. But BN “will just keep on pushing for early elections”.
How Melaka voters respond will offer an early indication of whether those tensions remain largely confined to Malaysia’s political elite or are beginning to reshape support for the uneasy alliances that have governed the country since the 2022 general election.
Anwar has said he disagreed with Umno’s decision to pay a fine, and has obliquely criticised Najib.
“Even hundreds of years of service cannot be used as an excuse to allow anyone to siphon off and plunder the wealth of the people and the nation,” Anwar said in a Facebook post on Wednesday in which he described compromises on corruption as “far” from the teachings of Islam.
“Those of us who hate and oppose corruption need to speak out more forcefully and send a clear message that those who commit corruption belong in prison.”
Anwar and Zahid trade barbs over early polls
For his part, Zahid has used Loke’s departure to call for Anwar to bring forward elections that must be held by early 2028.
“There is no need to reshuffle the Cabinet as it is better to dissolve Parliament and return the mandate to the voters,” Zahid said on Tuesday at a press briefing in Melaka.
Malaysia’s Byzantine system of electoral politics means that PH is in a coalition with BN at the federal level, but the two groups compete as rivals in state elections.
BN-PN pact complicates contests for PH
In Melaka, BN is cooperating with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc, led by the opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia. BN will contest 23 constituencies, and PN will seek five, setting up intriguing contests in which Anwar’s PH will battle opponents from Malay Muslim parties.
Zahid has said that if BN and PN are successful in Melaka, both blocs will work together in forming a government. That may hint at deeper cooperation in the future, including potentially at the federal level.
PH is contesting 24 seats, while former economy minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli’s new Bersama party is fielding candidates in 16 constituencies. Bersatu, which recently agreed to support Anwar’s government through a confidence-and-supply arrangement, is contesting seven seats.
“Najib’s house arrest and the Barisan Nasional-Perikatan Nasional pact could polarise ethnic voters further as non-Malays shy away from them,” Tunku Mohar said. — Bloomberg