KUALA LUMPUR: Coalitions led by Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim secured early leads in their respective strongholds on Saturday evening in a general election race that observers say will be too close to call.
Ismail’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, whose linchpin United Malays National Organisation (Umno) triggered the early polls, is looking to build on its slim majority following a string of local poll victories.
It is up against former ally Perikatan Nasional (PN) led by ex-premier Muhyiddin Yassin and Anwar’s reformist Pakatan Harapan (PH), which is expected by several pollsters to pick up the biggest share of the votes but fall short of a majority.
As of 8.30pm, unofficial tallies showed PH leading in 46 seats, followed by a regional grouping of parties from Sarawak with 21. The PN alliance was ahead in 21 seats and BN was leading in 15.
Total ballots cast in the tight race have hit a record high as hordes of young Malaysians have voted for the first time, after the voting age was reduced to 18 from 21.
Voting closed on Saturday evening with the scandal-hit Umno seeking to cement its power in a tight race with the coalition led by Anwar.
The popular opposition leader campaigned on a promise to fight corruption in a country where people are struggling with soaring food prices.
There were long lines at polling centres across the country despite concerns about monsoon rains, and the voters AFP spoke to said they hoped for political stability and economic improvement.
“I want a strong government and a stable economy so that there will be more job opportunities for the youth,” Nurul Hazwani Firdon, a 20-year-old tutor, said as she went to cast her ballot in the rural town of Bera in Pahang state.
Social media posts showed people lining up in knee-deep waters outside a voting centre in Sarawak state on Borneo island.
One video on Twitter showed an old woman being carried on someone’s back into a flooded polling place.
The Election Commission said turnout hit a record as 70% or 14.8 million of 21.1 million registered voters cast their ballots two hours before the polls closed at 6 pm.
Umno usually dominates Malaysian politics but it suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2018 election after a massive corruption scandal at the state fund 1MDB.
Former Umno leader and prime minister Najib Razak, who was at the centre of the 1MDB storm, is currently serving a 12-year jail term.
Because of infighting in the two successive governments since 2018, Umno crept back into power last year despite lingering corruption allegations, and is seeking a stronger mandate in Saturday’s election — called 10 months ahead of schedule.
Anwar’s dream
With age catching up, this may be Anwar’s last chance to fulfil his long-standing dream of leading Malaysia.
“A win today would certainly be gratifying after more than two decades of fighting to win the hearts and minds of the people,” Anwar, 75, told AFP before casting his vote in Penang state.
He added he was “cautiously confident” that PH (Alliance of Hope) could secure a simple majority in the 222-member parliament.
Ismail cast his vote in Bera. “I hope the voters will choose a government that can guarantee security and stability,” the caretaker prime minister told reporters.
A record 945 candidates are contesting for parliament seats across the majority Muslim country. Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, now 97, is among them.
Corruption a key issue
Corruption was a key issue during the campaign, with opposition parties repeatedly warning that if Umno wins, Najib could walk free and graft charges against other party leaders could be dropped.
The 1MDB scandal, in which billions of dollars in state funds were diverted to Beverly Hills properties, a superyacht, a Hollywood film and Najib’s own bank account, sparked investigations in Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.
Analysts said there was no clear frontrunner among the four coalitions.
A survey by the pollster Merdeka Centre on the eve of the elections showed Anwar’s coalition winning 82 seats of the total number of seats contested, and 33% favouring him as the prime minister.
There were supposed to be 222 seats at stake, but two candidates died and voting in one district was suspended due to bad weather.
Merdeka analyst Ibrahim Suffian told AFP it was “still possible for Anwar to achieve a simple majority” given the large turnouts in the final days of his campaign.
Nearly 1.4 million of the total registered voters are aged 18-20 and casting ballots for the first time. Analysts have said young voters lean toward the more progressive politics of the opposition.
The majority of registered voters, however, live in rural areas where the patronage politics dominated by Umno still holds sway.
Analysts said the multi-racial country would be in for further political instability if no coalition wins a clear majority.
Political parties on all sides have formed electoral pacts with one another to pool resources and avoid clashes.
Observers are, however, unsure if these pacts will stay or whether new alliances will be forged after the polls.
Malaysia this year passed an “anti-hopping” law, which penalises individual lawmakers from switching political parties. But it does not prevent an entire party from shifting allegiances, observers have noted.
Under the new law, politicians who switch parties will lose their seats, triggering a by-election.
