The next most important question is the vote in East Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak have 57 members of parliament, or about 25 per cent of the seats.
But politicians there care mainly about being part of the federal ruling coalition, so that they can get maximum developmental funding and autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement 1963. They will become more significant once the numbers are put together to form the federal government on election night.
GE15 CRUCIAL FOR MALAYSIA’S FUTURE
This will be a crucial GE for Malaysia’s future for two simple reasons. First, this is the first post-COVID-19 general election. Malaysians will want a strong stable government to steer Malaysia back to normality after the pandemic severely damaged the economy and uneven growth is expected.
Second, Malaysians are sick and tired of the political instability – three prime ministers and two ruling coalitions – since 2018. They understand the need for stability for the country to thrive.
The opposition is too divided at this point to offer a strong challenge nationally. It clearly lost momentum during the pandemic and I do not see any signs that they can reverse this trend in the next 60 days.
This is probably why the opposition tried hard to delay the election, including offering political support to Ismail Sabri in parliament so he could withstand the pressure from Ahmad Zahid and Najib to call for an early election.