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After years of political party infighting, Malaysia has succeeded in establishing election stability. Following the conclusion of the five-year term in June, the state elections for six states will take place on August 12. People had noticed political uncertainty at the national level up to November of last year. In the state elections, it is anticipated that young voters would cast their ballots along ethnic lines. However, they will also pay attention to how the Anwar Administration, which was established less than a year ago, is doing.
The newly established government's popularity chart paints a favourable picture of a stable government in a multicultural country. According to a survey conducted by the Merdeka Centre immediately following the 15th general election (GE15), Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, has a 68% national approval rating and 54% of respondents are satisfied with the performance of his administration. Voting for topics that are related to development may start to matter to young people when casting their ballots.
In the lead-up to the elections, there is a discussion on whether ethnic nationalism or worries about development would influence the next state elections. Inflation, economic development, corruption, and political instability are among the respondents' top four concerns, according to a survey by the Merdeka Centre. The satisfaction rates for PM Anwar among young voters in the age ranges of 18 to 20 and 21 to 30 are remarkably high, at 80% and 68%, respectively. The survey shows that people of Malay, Chinese, Indian, MB, and non-MB ancestry are content with the PM. The respondents chose job creation, the pay gap, bringing back FDI, strengthened anti-corruption initiatives, and educational reforms as the top five subjects that Anwar should concentrate on.
According to Nikkei Asia, the progressive themes of job security, the situation of the economy, and growing prices will be highlighted in the approaching state elections. Positive steps have already been made in this regard by the Anwar administration, including transparency in procurement contracts, the control of inflation, the introduction of austerity measures like the elimination of all subsidies on petrol or electricity rates, and attention to low- and middle-income households.
The Malay people's ethno-religious politics must be addressed by his government in the approaching elections, nevertheless. The Islamic identity of the Malay people frequently corresponds with ethnic nationalism. It gains importance when compared to Malaysia's demographics, which include a Malay majority, Bumiputera (69.9%), Chinese (22.8%), Indian (6.6%), and others (0.7%). According to Nikkei Asia, in the run-up to the GE15, over a third of voters (or 6 million out of 21 million) in the country were under the age of 30. Youths thus play a significant influence in determining the results of political politics in Malaysia.
Perikatan Nasional (PN), the coalition of opposition parties in the federal parliament, which is in charge of the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah, pushes it in order to advance politically. The PN coalition's Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), which successfully used the Malay-Muslim identity, has done so. Given their performance in the most recent elections, their political influence in Malaysian politics is not trivial. Surprisingly, a PAS candidate defeated Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar in the GE15 in the latter's stronghold of Penang state. The three more states that will have state elections are Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan, all of which are governed by Anwar's PH party. In Terengganu and Kelantan, PAS won every parliamentary seat.
