Malaysia 14th General Election: The Battle of the Titans

Amid an intense political contest, Malaysia will be holding its 14th general election( GE14 ) today, May 9th. Stakes are extremely high for Current Reigning Prime Minister Dato Sri' Najib Razak, who is already involved in a multi-billion dollar scandal involving state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He is going up against a record number of candidates and battles in several states, and the results will determine his political future. The frenzy of predictions for football games as the weekend approaches is nothing compared to the zeal that’s buzzing nationwide ahead of the general election. Termed the “Battle of Titans”, it will be interesting to see if GE14 lives up to the hype.

Who is running?

1. Barisan National/ National Front (BN)

Barisan National has been the prominent political party in Malaysia since Malaysia gained independence from Britain during 1957. Currently the party is led by Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak. Recently, the party has lost popularity since the 1MDB corruption scandal. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of channelling over RM 2.67 billion (nearly USD 700 million) from 1MDB, a government-run strategic development company, to his personal bank accounts. The last election marks its worst performance so far with which is largely owed to this scandal. Currently, Barisan National hold 133 Parliamentary seats.

2)Pakatan Harapan/ Alliance of Hope (PH)

Pakatan Harapan is a coalition of multiple political parties,namely Democratic Action Party (DAP),People's Justice Party (PKR),etc. The de-facto leader of the coalition is Former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The coalition's chairman Tun Mahathir Mohamad is a more prominent figure in the party. Tun Mahathir was the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia and is the longest reigning Prime Mister in Malaysian history. Currently Pakatan Harapan holds 89 Parliamentary seats.

3)Gagasan Sejahtera/ Ideas of Prosperity (PAS)

Gagasan Sejahtera or more commonly known as PAS is a coalition of Islamic parties,namely Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS),Pan-Malaysian Islamic Front (BERJASA),etc. The coalition is led by Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang since 2002. He was the head of the Terengganu government from 1999 to 2004. Currently Gagasan Sejahtera holds 13 Parliamentary seats.

4)Independent parties

There are also numerous independent parties in Malaysia though they are small scale parties.