Malaysia To Hold State Elections On Aug 12, PN "Provisionally" Secures Mahathir's Support

Malaysia's Election Commission (EC) announced that the six upcoming state elections will be held simultaneously on August 12. The nomination day for candidates has been set on July 29, which leaves 14 days for an election campaign.

• The six states heading to the polls are Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang and Negeri Sembilan. We have previously briefly discussed what's at stake - click here for details.
• Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim appeared confident that his Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance could defend its strongholds in Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan, while potentially capturing two states controlled by Perikatan Nasional (PN).
• However, the three states are the only ones currently governed by PH. A loss of even on of them would represent a significant setback for Anwar, exacerbating tensions in his fragile federal coalition with Barisan Nasional (BN).
• It is expected that the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc will seek to mobilise its conservative electorate by playing the ethnic card. PH leader Muhyiddin Yassin said that political veteran Mahathir Mohammad agreed to support his coalition.
• Mahathir, who spent 24 years as Malaysia's Prime Minister, has recently stoked controversy by accusing the incumbents of bias against the Malays and by insisting that promoting Malaysia as a multiracial country is unconstitutional.