Malaysian Election Research Articles

Southeast Asia's Toxic Alliances

Abstract: Political unity is a good thing—except when it is not. This essay argues that recent elections in Malaysia (2022), Thailand (2023), and Indonesia (2024) illustrate a growing trend towards toxic forms of unity. Toxic unity occurs when politicians who are supposed to be at opposite ends of the political spectrum join forces, citing the common good while in fact pursuing opportunistic goals. Features of toxic unity include improbable bedfellows, reputational whitewashing, clandestine deals, hidden brokerage, exclusionary agendas, discursive appeals, and voter alienation. Some toxic unity coalitions are proclaimed before polling day, while others are secret pacts.

Pengaruh Kemahiran Literasi Media dalam Konteks Pengundi Muda Baharu di Malaysia

The Influence of Political Information Processing Skills among New Young Voters in Malaysia ABSTRACT: The eligible voters age limit from 21 years to 18 years and triggered the issue of political participation readiness among new young voters in Malaysia. This study claims that media literacy skills from political information process dimension influence the political participation readiness. This study aims to evaluate the influence of media literacy skills from political information process dimension towards political participation readiness. There are seven political information process skills that are verified such as analysis, evaluation, grouping, induction, deduction, synthesis and abstract. By using survey and simple random sampling towards 547 respondents aged 18 to 26 years, this study, strategize data collection to represent the population of new young voters in Malaysia. The map of Malaysia is divided into North, South, East, West and Borneo Zones covering urban and rural areas. This study reported that the skills of induction, deduction and synthesis have positive influence towards political participation readiness among new young voters in Malaysia. However, the skills of analysis, evaluation, grouping and abstracting do not have any significant influence. This study suggests a strategic collaboration between the Ministry of Youth and Sports with the Malaysian Election Commission, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Digital in the National Service Training Program (PLKN). This initiative is expected increase the level of political participation readiness among new young voters in Malaysia. Keywords: Media literacy, new young voters, political information processing skills, political participation, voting.

Look Beyond The Facts: Evaluative Language Use In Malaysia's Six-State Election News Coverage

The 12 August 2023 six-states elections is the first test of the Perpaduan Government led by Anwar Ibrahim, who became the tenth prime minister of Malaysia on 26 November 2022. The election narrative in the newspapers is intriguing because his political background is not clear-cut as he had been with the ruling government and the opposition at different junctures of his political career. The study examined the evaluative aspects of language in newspaper articles on six-states elections in Malaysia published in Harian Metro, a leading Malay daily. Altogether 71 Harian Metro articles between 1 January and 31 August 2023 (18,381 words) were analysed using Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory. Out of 1,408 instances of evaluative language, 61.58% were in the graduation category, 23.58% were in the engagement category, and only 14.84% were in the attitudes category. The graduation category was dominated by the number sub-category, to provide precise facts about the elections, including a time-stamp on events. The engagement category features frequent acknowledgement of information sources to lend authenticity to views. Within the attitudes category, judgement words were frequently used to assess the attitudes and behaviours of politicians. The minimal presence of the affect and appreciation sub-categories shows avoidance of emotive expressions. The inclination towards a fact-focussed reporting maintains impartiality in the election narrative involving political parties aligned to important past and present political figures.

Visual Representation of Malaysian Candidates in General Election in Selected Coalition Parties: A Visual Survey on Social Media

The 15th General Election was held on November 19, 2022. The warmth of the previous GE-15 (General Election 15) is still being talked about by many today. In the context of elections in Malaysia, the main factors that influence selected coalition parties based on communication strategy involving the manifesto agenda besides its effective visual strategy. The use of visuals is seen as a practical, easy, and fast medium of dissemination to influence audiences within the political party. This study aims to examine the meaning and ideology behind the visual representation of candidates involving Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN), and Perikatan Nasional (PN). Visual Semiotics Theory by Kress and van Leuween (1996) was adapted to study visual characteristics and ideology. The results found PH, BN, and PN attach great importance to the implementation of the principle slogan and positive visual elements in the agenda of their party. As a result, PH emphasizes the principles of progress and integrity, BN emphasizes progress and well-being while PN is seen to emphasize the combination of the principles of PH and BN in their party, which are well-being, integrity, and progress. In this case, PN is seen as more critical and transparent based on a combination of slogan principles compared to PH and BN. Positive visual representations and interesting slogan principles are seen as effective alternatives for ideology dissemination to audiences throughout the election season.

BUILDING A FRAMEWORK FOR ELECTION EDUCATION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

This paper presents a framework for educating university students on political issues during elections, with a specific focus on the impact of the Undi18 campaign. This campaign enables 18-year-olds to vote or contest in elections and has had a significant effect on the democratic landscape in Malaysia, as evidenced by its implementation during the PRU-15 election. The framework comprises two critical components: (1) evaluating university students’ perspectives on elections in Malaysia, and (2) measuring the extent of university students’ knowledge about political issues during elections. The framework has been developed by reviewing the current literature on election education and is intended to be adaptable for use in various educational contexts and by instructors from different fields. The aim is to enhance the level of political awareness and engagement among university students and to promote the strengthening of democratic processes.

Sentiment Analysis of Twitter Data: Understanding Public Opinion before the 15th General Elections in Malaysia

Amid the ever-growing social media content, sentiment analysis is a technique that is necessary for analyzing public opinion. This paper aims to discover what sentiment prevailed and what reaction took place preceding the election. This paper also presents the results of a study that applied sentiment analysis to Twitter data relating to the 15th General Elections of Malaysia. This research reviews several sentiment analysis techniques based on Twitter data. Using the method of analyzing 1566 tweets, including re-tweets and replies, gathered between November 12th and November 18th, 2022, the findings give us an understanding of the level of emotions that were tweeted by the users of Twitter towards the 15th general election in Malaysia. The results indicate that the sentiments expressed in the analysed tweets are distributed as follows: slightly positive (41%), positive (31%), neutral (24%), and slightly negative (4%).

PILIHAN RAYA UMUM (PRU) NEGERI DI MALAYSIA 2023: SATU ANALISIS GEOGRAFIKAL DAN SOSIOLOGIKAL

The 2023 General Elections (GE) in the state of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah in Malaysia is an important election to see the impact of GE-15 in 2022 on the parties in the Unity Government namely Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) and political parties from Sabah and Sarawak; with and Perikatan Nasional (PN) either continue or create a new pattern. The intended impact is the support pattern of Malay and Chinese voters, as well as the policies or policies of the Unity Government carried out by PMX. Voter support for political parties in the 2023 state election is also influenced by the relationship between voters and other individuals as well as the influence of the environment. Therefore, it is the purpose of writing this article to analyze the geographical and sociological factors in the State General Election in Malaysia in 2023. Based on the data analysis of the State General Election 2023 in Malaysia, observations in the field and analysis of secondary sources such as journal articles and conference papers, the findings of the study show that from a geographical point of view, PH and PN each remain in control of the states they won in GE-14 2018, namely PH remains in control of Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan but with a decrease in seats in rural Malay areas; while PN remains in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. From a sociological point of view, the narrative that "green wave" or "referendum against PH-BN" needs to be rethought and should not be accepted in totality. This article explains that based on the analysis from the sociological and structural dimensions it clearly shows that the results of the 6 State PRN contain different narratives that can be raised and considered, namely the strengthening of the "red wave" and the "referendum of UMNO members" against the UMNO party which is now the main ally. PH-BN in a unity government. Therefore, geographical and sociological factors will continue to influence the direction and pattern of voter support in elections in Malaysia.

Transitioning from aggregated bipartism: state elections in Malaysia, May 2018–March 2022

ABSTRACT This election article explains Malaysia’s winding democratization trajectory from one-coalition predominance (1957–1990) to aggregated bipartism (1990–2015, with intermissions) to fluid multipartism (particularly in the aftermath of 2020 to the present day), with the help of multilevel party system framework. The findings demonstrate that state-level dynamics can facilitate or impede the formation and sustenance of aggregated bipartism, known as the Two-Coalition System, in Malaysia. I identify the state-level factors that affect the emergence of, and disruptions to, aggregated bipartism in 1990-2015, and analyse the outcome of 16 state elections held between May 2018 and March 2022 amidst Malaysia’s transition from aggregated bipartism.

Electoral suffrage between legitimate rights and national rights (Malaysia as a model)

Islamic political scholars have determined that Islamic legislation has a unique system and specific methods for selecting rulers. This system is subject to established religious mechanisms, criteria, and conditions. This Islamic system was clearly evident during the establishment of the Islamic state, particularly after the passing of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Consultation (shura) was employed among Muslims to choose a caliph, and no one was appointed as a ruler after him. This study aims to highlight the principles of Islamic politics through analyzing Quranic and Prophetic texts, examining the foundations of general and specific religious rulings, and applying them to the Malaysian elections as a model. The significance of the topic lies in the importance of transparency and integrity in presidential and parliamentary elections and their consequential effects. The researcher employed various methods including extrapolation, analysis, comparison, and conclusion. The researcher concluded that the Islamic political system has distinct electoral criteria that set it apart from global constitutions, and Islamic law attaches significant importance to electoral participation. Participation is both a religious and constitutional obligation for those qualified to take part in elections.

The Roles of New Voters Towards National Elections in Malaysia

In 2022, Malaysia held the 15th General Election (GE15), which allowed new voters to participate in voting for the first time. The research objective of this study is to explore the role of new voters in GE15. To achieve this objective, this study used the qualitative research method to conduct 2 focus group discussions on 7 Selangor’s new voters, aged between 22 and 24, with bachelor's degrees. They are 3 Malays, 2 Malaysian Chinese, and 2 Malaysian Indians. This research utilized NVIVO12 for thematic analysis of data. The findings show that Informants believe that they play many roles in GE15, they mainly support democracy, change politics, influence politics, promote political participation, and fulfill responsibilities and obligations. In addition, Informants believe that their votes have a significant influence on the political situation, mainly influencing the economy, influencing politics, and promoting democracy. These findings emphasize the role and influence of new voters in Malaysia’s politics, and emphasize the importance of democracy, diversity, and government attention to public opinion.

Politik & Perniagaan dalam PRU-15: Perspektif Elit

The dynamics of the relationship between politics and business ahead of the 15th General Election in Malaysia is very interesting to be analyzed. The fall of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the previous 14th General Election has ended the dominance of the coalition of parties that dominated the accumulation and concentration of wealth at the federal level through the practice of patronage politics in Malaysia since independence. In addition to ending BN’s dominance, GE-14 also opened critical awareness among the masses about political funding and the relationship between politics and business, especially following the biggest kleptocracy scandals in history, namely 1MDB and Najib Razak. Through secondary data, this study analyzes the relationship between politics and business through the perspective of the elite who lead the parties in the 15th General Election. The findings of the relationship between the political elite and business are analyzed through the aspects of direct ownership of the political elite in private companies, ownership of the political elite in government-linked companies (GLC), ownership of the closest family members of the political elite in private companies and GLCs, as well as ownership of the closest friends of the political elite in private companies and GLC. This study also reflects the implications of the relationship between the political elite and business from the point of view of the equality of political funding which is quite critical for fair political competition in a democratic system.

THE CONTRADICTORY EFFECTS OF DIGITAL ACCESS AND LIFE SATISFACTION ON VOTING BEHAVIOURS: A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK AT THE 2008 MALAYSIAN GENERAL ELECTION

This paper explores the relationship between life satisfaction and voting intention by analysing the 2008 General Election in Malaysia. The election was significant because of the high turnout rate since 1964 and the rise of digital media in political communication. The latter leads to the second objective of this paper: to investigate whether the presence of digital media reshapes voting behaviours across different levels of life satisfaction. Using the 6th wave of World Value Survey data of 1198 respondents with the Hierarchical Linear Regression Modelling, we show that unhappier voters are more likely to vote. However, by democratising access to information and lowering barriers to connect with voters via digital media, voting intention is levelled irrespective of the degree of life satisfaction. While happier voters pay more attention to the social economic issues and thus are more likely to react to news disseminated via digital media by voting, it is equally likely that unhappier voters provoked by negative news through digital media have greater intention to voice out by casting a vote too.

The 15th General Elections in Malaysia: Party Polarization, Shifting Coalitions and the Hung Parliament

The 15th General Elections in Malaysia: Party Polarization, Shifting Coalitions and the Hung Parliament

Malaysia’s Electoral System: Issues and Framework for Electoral System Reform

Elections are the foundation and inevitable elements of democracy. As an inevitable element of democracy, it imposes democratic country to fix its election to be free and fair. Moreover, fair elections also enable regimes change and the implementation of good governance and may significantly advance or impede long-term democratic development. In recent years, the Malaysian government has increasingly faced negative perceptions toward the electoral system. The negative perceptions toward the Malaysian election are influenced by the performance of the Election Commission (EC). The ignorance or failure of the government to improve the credibility of every election led to the demand for reform from civil societies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to bring the election framework in line with the concept of an ideal election. Therefore, this article aims to explore the issues of electoral reform and to suggest a framework for electoral system reform in Malaysia. This research applies a qualitative method which is document analysis and interview. The result of this study found that issues on the electoral system includes all election cycle. The electoral system reform framework shows few elements on electoral cycle such as voter education, absentee voter, and empowerment of Election Commission (EC) need serious attention from the government. This research contributes in term of reform suggestion to increase the efficiency and election credibility.

Remembering Hamidin Abdul Hamid: His Contribution to Africa-Malaysia Relations and the Development of African Studies in Malaysia

n this obituary and research note, we dedicate our prayers and peaceful thoughts to the late Associate Professor Dr Hamidin Abdul Hamid (1970-2022), who recently passed away in the late afternoon of September 19, 2022. Malaysians knew him through his national television appearance, famous witty commentaries on national electoral issues, past adjuncts and visiting posts, and consultations. He will always be remembered for his contributions and legacy in advancing African Studies in Malaysia. To colleagues, former students, supervisees, and known associates and academic networks within and outside the circle of History, African Studies, Leadership, and Malaysian elections, his presence is always felt. We are always honoured to know his excellent works in many impactful ways. As part of this attribute to the late Dr Hamidin, the rest of this research note provides updates on current trends in Malaysia-Africa relations and African Studies at Universiti Malaya and in Malaysia generally. We also would like to express our sincere gratitude to SINERGI's Editor-in-Chief and the rest of her editorial team, UKM Press, and SPHEA, UKM, for allowing us to share our views on research in Africa-Malaysia relations.

Politics of Floods and Fear During Pre-15th General Election in Malaysia: An Analysis

UMNO's call to put pressure on the Malaysian government, under the leadership of Ismail Sabri, to hold the GE15 during the flood season, which is expected to start in November 2022 until March 2023, was observed to have surprised many parties. In fact, this call was responded to by Ismail Sabri's announcement in the UMNO assembly stating that the parliament will be dissolved in the near future to make way for the GE15, which also confirmed that it was likely that the election would be held during the flood season in Malaysia. Finally, on October 10, 2022, Ismail Sabri announced the dissolution of the 14th parliament and confirmed that the GE15 will be held during the flood season in Malaysia. This announcement has created an atmosphere of panic and fear among the people because Malaysia will generally be hit by a flood season during the specified period. Therefore, this research aims to identify how the flood season affects the ideas for the GE15. The conceptual framework proposed in this research is political distrust of the government and the setting of political agendas that will influence voters’ behaviour. This research is relevant and has its own importance due to the fact that research related to floods during the general election in Malaysia has not been carried out before. It provides a new approach when focusing on how floods affect the course of elections in Malaysia, in addition to introducing a new landscape in national politics. The results of this study found that the GE15 in Malaysia will most likely not represent the true voice of the people of this country because it is held during the flood season. This is because it would have reduced the voting percentage due to weather factors that may cause people to refuse to go out to vote. In conclusion, the politics of flood and fear have the potential to influence voters’ behaviour of going out to vote or otherwise, and would have an impact on the outcome of the election results.

Tiktok Content in Communication Strategy: Politics of the 15th General Election in Malaysia

Political communication is the exchange of the latest news between the government and society or vice versa. The purpose of political communication is to get support or votes from the people. Nowadays, social media is increasingly important in political communication because social media can be used by anyone interested without any limitations. Therefore, this study aims to examine the ability of TikTok as one medium of political communication strategy. This study looks at the extent by which the main youth political leaders in Malaysia optimize the use of TikTok as a political communication strategy, evaluates the adaptation of political leaders with TikTok in terms of content, identifies the type of interaction with TikTok users, evaluates the political communication strategies through TikTok and the effectiveness of TikTok use in influencing improvement political supporters ahead of GE-15. This study selected two TikTok accounts, namely Y.B. Syed Saddiq and Shahril Sufian Hamdan as a study sample. The results of the study indicated the significant advantage of Y.B Syed Saddiq in using TikTok as a political communication tool in comparison to Shahril Sufian Hamdan. The youth-friendly interaction demonstrated by Y.B. Syed Saddiq made him one of the most highly followed politicians with successful message sharing. Shahril Sufian Hamdan and other politicians should adapt to a new era in efforts to political communication. Politicians should use social media more effectively and post more friendly content to social media users and increase interaction activities with them. Keywords: content; Malaysia; politic; TikTok

From Editor-in-Chief’s Keyboard (November-2022)

From Editor-in-Chief’s Keyboard
 Malaysia finally expected to end the political crisis since year 2020. The 19 November general election in Malaysia and the accompanying swearing-in of a new prime minister represent a further country's political establishment and portend future political stability. As a result of the renewed optimism, the country is once again on the rise.
 The November issue emphasises issues related to smart city management. City planners and authorities are being pushed by increasing urbanisation rates and the numerous issues they bring to adopt smart systems. Article by Gunawan (page 1-19) identify the integrity model for data population in city. By constructing a model of the integrity of the use of population data, it is very easy to trace the misuse of population data through digital traces. To reinforce the implementation of the integrity model for the use of population data, the competency of human resources participating in each series of processes or phases of the model's construction must be enhanced. This competency development contains soft skill-related content. In addition, there are a number of articles (written by Chen Zhongcao, Li Bing, and Wang Zhipeng) that cover mobile applications for businesses while emphasising the need for technology and innovation for good municipal management. Therefore, better urban management may boost output, cut expenses, and stimulate the economy.
 Let's relax and enjoy ourselves by reading the current issue. My teammates and I are hard at work on some topical and interesting pieces for the upcoming issue of the journal.
 
 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ilham Sentosa
 Editor-in-Chiefeditor@dreamjournal.my

PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT (PKR) DALAM PILIHAN RAYA UMUM DAN PEMILIHAN PKR 2022: IMPAK DAN MASA HADAPAN DALAM GEOPOLITIK MALAYSIA

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is a multi-racial political party in Malaysia that fights for social justice for all communities but supports the Malaysian Constitution. This party was formed in conjunction with the dismissal of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Government and UMNO to demand justice for him and the persecuted people. The party has undergone a rebranding from Parti KeADILan Nasional (PKN/KeADILan) to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) as a result of a merger with part of the leadership of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM). From the 1999 General Election to 2018, the party participated in elections and experienced ups and downs in its performance. The party also held internal leadership elections which saw the participation of a large number of members in the party's elections. In the end, both elections have an impact on Malaysia's geopolitics from time to time. Therefore, it is the purpose of writing this article to analyze the performance of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in the general election and the PKR 2022 election that has an impact and the future on Malaysian geopolitics. Based on primary sources, namely the results of the general election in Malaysia and secondary sources, namely journal articles, academic books, seminar papers and research reports, the findings show that PKR’s performance in the 1999-2018 GE is volatile based on current issues and voters’ confidence in the leadership. PKR. The results of the PKR 2022 internal election show that PKR members choose leaders who are experienced, competent and strong in administration as the government as well as leaders who are idealistic, far-sighted, visionary and independent in acting in politics. As a result, Malaysia's geopolitics is still stable with anything that happens in PKR but with the image as a multi-racial party and constantly facing internal and external conflicts then this will influence voters, especially Malay voters to support the party towards the next GE. Although there are various challenges and obstacles that this multi-racial political party has to go through, the future of this party is still bright if the strategy of attracting voters is in line with the current situation.

Elections as a means of citizens political education: a comparative study between Indonesia and Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to compare Indonesian and Malaysian elections in terms of (1) legal basis, (2) organizing institution, (3) implementation, (4) political party function, and (5) public participation. It was a library study using a qualitative approach. Documentation was used to gather information. The data were analyzed descriptively using the Miles and Haberman model. The data were collected, grouped, reduced, interpreted, and concluded. The data were interpreted based on concepts, theories, and critical analysis. Cross-checking was used as the data validity technique. The results of this study are (1) Indonesia has hosted 12 elections, some of which have been influenced by political dynamics, including Law No. 12 of 2003 concerning Elections for the 2004 Election, Law No. 10 of 2008, and Law No. 7 of 2017 concerning Elections. Malaysian elections are governed by two laws: (a) the Malaysian Law on General Election Deed 1958 and (b) the Malaysian Law on General Election Error Act 1954. (c) P.U.(A) 293/2002 concerning the General Election (Voter Registration) Regulation last amended by P.U.(A) 106/2012; (d) P.U.(A) 185/2003 concerning Election Regulation (Post Elections) 2003; (e) P.U.(A) 386/1981 concerning General Election Regulations (Execution of Grand Elections) 1981, last amended by P.U. (A) 134/2013. (2) General Election Commission (KPU) is the name of the election organizers, whereas General Election Institute is the name of the election organizers in the New Order Era (LPU). Suruhanjaya Choice Raya is the Malaysian election organizer (SPR) (3) The election system in Malaysia is simpler and more efficient. Malaysia uses the District Election System which is based on the location of the election district, not the population. The election system in Indonesia uses the proportional election system. (4) Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy and adheres to a parliamentary democracy system. Both Indonesia and Malaysia adhere to a multi-party system. (5) The average voter turnout in Malaysian elections is 85 percent, while voter turnout in Indonesia is only 74 percent. In general, Malaysian elections are worse than those in Indonesia. In Malaysia, election organizers tend to favor government parties. Suruhanjaya Choice Raya Malaysia (SPR) barred Diaspora residents in other nations from using the post in 2018, claiming that the Diaspora favored opposition parties.