KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — Every general election in Malaysia has been touted as the mother of all general elections, but the floodgates have truly been opened wide this year.
On nomination day last Saturday, the Election Commission (EC) confirmed a record 945 people as candidates vying for 222 parliamentary seats in the 15th general election.
And if that is not dizzying enough, there has been a boom in coalitions and alliances this time around compared to the 14th general election in 2018, which was almost a straightforward fight between the Barisan Nasional (BN) behemoth and the Opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Events in the past four years with the 'Sheraton Move' and the aftermath saw parties splinter and form their own breakaway pacts.
Some, which have been formally recognised by the Registrar of Societies, like Bersatu, cut loose from PH to team up with PAS to form Perikatan Nasional (PN) and pulled several stray parties in.
Others have yet to gain registration, like the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA), an assortment of lesser-known Malay Muslim parties, headlined by former two-time prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s newest vehicle, Pejuang.
Some political warlords and incumbents who were dropped by their parties have gone rogue and nominated themselves as independents in certain seats.
And yet other high-profile individuals — scions of past government leaders, social rights activists, and social media influencers — touting themselves as free of political partisan baggage, have entered the fray.
For these reasons and others too long to mention, these eight states and two federal territories throughout Malaysia are where Malay Mail foresees the fights to be most fraught:
