Voters in Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan headed to the polls on Saturday, the second election in the past month as political allies governing the country locked horns at state levels. Candidates from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition are going head-to-head with those of federal partner Barisan Nasional (BN), which trounced its rival in last month’s Johor race. Negeri Sembilan has traditionally been a stronghold for PH, which won 17 seats in 2023 while BN secured 14,...
Malaysia’s unity government is holding in Putrajaya, but its uneasy alliance is fraying in the states after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) moved into opposition in Melaka even as it is still reeling from a rout by its federal partner Barisan Nasional (BN) in Johor. The split followed a constitutional amendment allowing Melaka’s government to appoint up to seven unelected assembly members with voting rights. PH’s five lawmakers opposed the bill, which passed 23-5 on...
Barisan Nasional’s (BN) sweeping win in Johor is expected to embolden it within Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government while forcing Pakatan Harapan (PH) into a difficult postmortem over its waning appeal on the ground. The Election Commission announced BN’s victory of 48 seats, out of 56 up for grabs, with PH managing only eight. BN’s result was better than the 40 seats it secured in the 2022 race. Analysts say the result, which came despite Anwar campaigning heavily for PH,...
Voters in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor will cast their ballots on Saturday in a high-stakes election that is expected to bring Barisan Nasional (BN) back to power, exposing deeper cracks in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration. BN is part of Anwar’s unity government but will go head to head against federal partner Pakatan Harapan (PH) in a state long regarded as a BN stronghold. The contest for Johor’s 56-seat assembly has put Anwar’s multi-ethnic party in an awkward position, but...