Malaysia's 15th General Elections and Anwar Ibrahim-Led Government

After recent years of political turmoil, Malaysia's 'snap' 15th General Elections was held late last year. The election saw an unprecedented number of parties and candidates vying for a place in Malaysia's parliament, and a cohort of around five million first-time voters, given the voting age had been lowered from 21 to 18. Despite fears that floods and political disillusionment would mean low voter turn-out, over 73 per cent of Malaysians voted.

The result was an emphatic rejection of the long dominant ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional, who gained only 30 seats. But with no single coalition achieving a majority, a tense few days of internal negotiations followed. The result was a coalition government led by Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia's Prime Minister, after his coalition agreed to an alliance with the Barisan Nasional.

This panel will discuss the campaign narratives and results, and what they mean for Malaysia's political environment and democracy. The panel will also discuss the goals and challenges of the new Anwar Ibrahim-led government, and what might be some key agendas of parties in opposition over the next few years. 

The discussion is open to the public. It will be for in-person attendees only, and will not be recorded or livestreamed.

Panellists:

• Professor Meredith Weiss, University of Albany, SUNY
• Associate Professor Marzuki Mohamad, International Islamic University Malaysia
• Associate Professor Ross Tapsell, ANU

Speaker bios:

Meredith Weiss is Professor of Political Science in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, SUNY. Her work addresses social mobilization, civil society, and collective identity; electoral politics and parties; institutional reform; and subnational governance in Southeast Asia.

Marzuki Mohamad is former Principal Private Secretary to the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, International Islamic University Malaysia. As an aide to Tan Sri Muhyiddin who is also Chairman of Perikatan Nasional (PN), Marzuki directly involved in PN's election campaign for GE15.

Ross Tapsell is an Associate Professor at the Australian National University's College of Asia and the Pacific, specialising in Southeast Asian media. His current research interests focuses on the changing information societies of the Southeast Asian region, and the role of disinformation and social media campaigning on the democratic process. He is currently Director of the ANU's Malaysia Institute.

This panel is presented by the ANU Malaysia Institute.