Abstract
Malaysia’s 13th General Election held on 5 May 2013 was one of the most exciting General Elections in Malaysia’s political history. The result showed that the ruling party Barisan Nasional (National Front) or BN and the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance) or PR contested closely in the 222 Parliamentary seats. Although the results showed a rather status quo in favour of the ruling party, the opposition coalition managed to increase their seats to 89 compared to 82 from the 2008 12th General Election while the seats obtained by the ruling party reduced to 133 from 140 seats. National Youth Survey by the Asia Foundation indicated that the political thinking of the youths in Malaysia are not static but have changed accordingly. This new shift allows this paper to discuss the position of the youth in Malaysia with a reference to the selected university students on Malaysian political parties’ leadership and which party will benefit from their role in Malaysian politics.
Highlights
As it is prevalent, the previously mellow emphasis placed on the more knowledgeable, nubile, energetic and charismatic young voter to produce change in the Malaysian democratic stagnancy is seeing a monumental expansion
The results showed a rather status quo in favour of the ruling party, the opposition coalition managed to increase their seats to 89 compared to 82 from the 2008 12th General Election while the seats obtained by the ruling party reduced to 133 from 140 seats
Issue based, rational thinking young voters who played a rather important role in the 2008 General Elections, causing disconnect with the ruling party’s status quo styled campaign strategies (Pandian, 2010). Illustrating this predicament is the 5% vote disparity in 2013 between the Barisan Nasional (National Front), known as BN (47%) and Pakatan Rakyat (People Coalition), called as PR (52%) popular vote which signifies an understated shift away from the status quo in the ‘first past the goal post’ system, what matters is the number of seats won and not the ballot paper received by parties involved
Summary
As it is prevalent, the previously mellow emphasis placed on the more knowledgeable, nubile, energetic and charismatic young voter to produce change in the Malaysian democratic stagnancy is seeing a monumental expansion. Allowing consideration on dimensions of age, political immaturity and volatility in decision making, many recently conducted research indicated that almost half of the first time voters in Malaysia were ‘fence sitters’ or eleventh hour decision maker It is these undecided, issue based, rational thinking young voters who played a rather important role in the 2008 General Elections, causing disconnect with the ruling party’s status quo styled campaign strategies (Pandian, 2010). Issue based, rational thinking young voters who played a rather important role in the 2008 General Elections, causing disconnect with the ruling party’s status quo styled campaign strategies (Pandian, 2010) Illustrating this predicament is the 5% vote disparity in 2013 between the Barisan Nasional (National Front), known as BN (47%) and Pakatan Rakyat (People Coalition), called as PR (52%) popular vote which signifies an understated shift away from the status quo in the ‘first past the goal post’ system, what matters is the number of seats won and not the ballot paper received by parties involved. With the 13th Malaysian General Elections which took place in May 2013 as a cornerstone indicator in this research, the young voter perceptions and the accompanying ‘fence sitter’ ideology will be scrutinized in detail, adding much needed intellectual flavor to a subject which has yet to unearth its truest potential
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