Shifting Tides: Malaysia's 2023 State Assembly Elections

Abstract

Six states in Malaysia concluded their elections on August 12, 2023, fiercely contested by major party coalitions. Major changes have taken place in seat composition for the respective state assemblies. How did the respective coalitions campaign and fare at the six state elections? The coalitions issued manifestos as part of the campaign but the content of the manifestos had not been adequately discussed during the campaign, and hence did not have much bearing on the voting public. Based on the documentary analysis backed by informal interviews with voters, this study analyses the state assembly elections that showed a status quo in all six states. Anwar Ibrahim-led progressive, multi-ethnic alliance, Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional (PH-BN), had been re-elected in three of the states it had held prior to the election. Perikatan Nasional (PN), the opposition bloc led by former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and backed by a conservative Islamist party, also held the three states under its control but it managed to wrest several seats in the states held by PH-BN. PN took 60 percent of the 245 state assembly seats contested, relying on the contention that Anwar and his multi-ethnic coalition would not protect Malays and Islam. These elections have no direct impact on the political stability of the country. The unity government has four years to unite an increasingly polarised country as it appeared during the election, and needs to improve its social and economic performance.