The upcoming Melaka state polls will feature a mix of 11 straight fights, 11 three-cornered contests, and six four-cornered battles. Pakatan Harapan is contesting 24 seats, while Bersatu is fielding candidates in seven, successfully preventing overlaps in Lendu, Sungai Udang, Pantai Kundor, and Bemban. Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional have formed an alliance, securing their own cooperation after resolving internal disputes by awarding the Malaysian Chinese Association two extra seats.
Key points
The selective seat allocation acts as an informal trial to assess Bersatu's ability to ca…: The selective seat allocation acts as an informal trial to assess Bersatu's ability to capture Malay votes for Pakatan Harapan.
Despite coordinating in four seats, Muhyiddin Yassin maintained that recent parliamentary…: Despite coordinating in four seats, Muhyiddin Yassin maintained that recent parliamentary agreements do not represent a formal electoral pact.
Lingering bitterness over Bersatu's departure from Pakatan Harapan in 2020 continues to s…: Lingering bitterness over Bersatu's departure from Pakatan Harapan in 2020 continues to spark resistance within the Democratic Action Party.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Analysts say Melaka could serve as a testing ground to see whether Bersatu can help Pakatan Harapan win over Malay voters ahead of Malaysia's next general election.
KUALA LUMPUR: The campaign for the 16th Melaka state election officially began on Saturday (Oct 31) with all 28 seats to be contested, the Election Commission announced after candidates were confirmed on nomination day.
The line-up for the Nov 14 election offers clues about potential political alliances, notably with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and former premier Muhyiddin Yassin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) avoiding direct contests in four seats.
Analysts told CNA the nominations show PH and Bersatu are informally cooperating, although some internal pushback from at least one component party means they have not explicitly admitted it.
Future cooperation depends on whether Bersatu can help PH win some of the Malay votes in Melaka and stem the “Malay tsunami”, the analysts said, referring to how the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) partnership has swept to resounding victories in recent state elections.
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