Malaysian elections that could determine scandal-plagued Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s political survival were set for May 9, an unusual workday date with a shorter campaign period than during the last polls.
Past Malaysian elections were mostly on weekends, though workday votes are not unprecedented. National polls in 1995 and 1999 under former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, the opposition leader who is Najib’s strongest challenger, were on a Monday.
The Election Commission yesterday set an 11-day campaigning period, shorter than the 15 days in 2013 polls.
It said 14.94 million voters would cast their ballot, an increase of 1.7 million new voters.
Analysts said lower turnout could disadvantage the opposition led by Mahathir, Asia’s longest-serving leader for 22 years before he retired in 2003.
“There is a chance for a lower turnout, especially for those who have to travel to vote. A reduced turnout is likely to favor the incumbent,” said Rashaad Ali, research analyst with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Mahathir, who leads a four-party opposition alliance, has said a high voter turnout was needed for an opposition victory. In 2013, when the opposition won the popular vote for the first time, a record 85 percent of voters cast their ballot.
Najib, 64, is seeking a third term in office and under pressure to improve his National Front coalition’s performance after support eroded in the past two elections.
He has been dogged by a massive corruption scandal involving the state-owned 1MDB fund, which is under investigation in the US and other countries for allegations of cross-border embezzlement and money laundering.
A strong victory is pivotal for Najib ahead of year-end party elections in his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) which is the linchpin of the coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independent from Britain in 1957.
“I would consider this election the ultimate test of survival for Najib. If Najib fails to deliver a strong result, voices of dissent within UMNO will surely grow louder making his position as leader untenable. If he does well in the election, it would be the biggest consolidation of his position,” Rashaad said.
Najib faces an unprecedented challenge from his former mentor Mahathir, who returned to politics two years ago amid anger over the scandal involving 1MDB, which was set up and previously led by Najib, but which accumulated billions in debt.
Opposition lawmakers said the 1MDB scandal had turned the country into a global kleptocracy and warned that re-electing the ruling coalition would destroy Malaysia.
The US Department of Justice said at least US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by associates of Najib and it is working to seize US$1.7 billion allegedly taken from the fund to buy assets in the US.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing and strengthened his grip on power by firing critics and muzzling the media.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not