Malaysia 2022: 15Th general elections and deepening political polarisation

Abstract

None of the three main political coalitions in the 15th Malaysian General Elections in 2022 was able to win a simple majority to form the next government. The hung parliament situation ended after the Malaysian King appointed Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister to lead a unity government including Pakatan Harapan (PH), the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and several smaller parties. The election results indicated several key developments in Malaysian politics: (1) deepening political polarisation along racial lines – most non-Malays voted for PH and a significant number of Malays voted for Perikatan Nasional (PN); (2) PN’s component parties, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) won a majority of the Malay vote share, overtaking UMNO as the parties to champion for Malay and Muslim rights and (3); the Islamist party PAS won the largest number of seats, indicating that the strategy of emphasising its religious credentials promoted trust among Malay voters seeking clean governance. Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war resulted in inflationary pressures, food shortages and price hikes that the Malaysian government struggled to manage. On the foreign relations front, the Malaysian Foreign Minister adopted a critical stance towards the Myanmar military regime, even as the government deported thousands of Myanmar refugees despite mounting international criticism.