Candidates Return To Constituencies In Last Leg Of Campaign For Malaysia's General Election

Candidates in Malaysia's 15th general election (GE15) are returning to their home constituencies in a bid to rally voters during the final 24 hours of campaigning ahead of Saturday's voting day.

• To the best of our knowledge, the latest available nationwide opinion poll was conducted by YouGov between Nov 8 and 14. The survey put the main opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan led by Anwar Ibrahim on 35%, with Muhyiddin Yassin's Perikatan Nasional on 20% and PM Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob's Barisan Nasional on 17%.
• YouGov noted that the election unlikely to produce a clear winner, which seems to be the perception of most analysts. A hung parliament would trigger difficult coalition talks, which could render regional parties from the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak kingmakers, depending on their performance.
• Electoral forecasting based on nationwide party voting intentions is prone to error, as Malaysia elects federal lawmakers by the first-past-the-post method in single-seat districts. Adding to uncertainty on that front is the record number of candidates (945), including representatives of 39 parties and a record number of independents (108), contesting the 222 Dewan Rakyat seats in many multi-way races.
• The election will see a record number of eligible voters, with the electoral roll expanded to 21.17mn people following the adoption of automatic voter registration and the lowering of voting age to 18 from 21. The influx of new voters further clouds the outlook.
• Among Prime Minister candidates, former Premier Muhyiddin is positively perceived by 33% of voters, opposition leader Anwar lags with 29% and caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri viewed positively by 22% of people.
• Friday and Saturday were declared as public holidays across Malaysia to allow private sector employees to travel home and cast the ballots. State elections in Perlis, Pahang and Perak will be held concurrently with the federal election.