Malaysia's 2022 General Election : Crafting Power in a Crowded Arena / Hwok Aun Lee, Francis E Hutchinson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Lee, Hwok Aun, editor.

Hutchinson, Francis E., editor.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (456 p.)

Place of Publication:

Singapore ISEAS Publishing, [2026]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This edited volume of essays, written by twenty-four established and emerging scholars, is the first-and an ambitious-attempt to study Malaysia's 2022 general election. That most complex election ever was held under exceptional circumstances. Voters were tired of high-level corruption, exhausted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and angered by past regimes' failures to fix an inflationary economy. The politics of the election were unsettling. Malay politics, once a key source of stability, was badly fragmented. Voters also had to confront manipulated ethnoreligious tensions and simmering regionalist divisions. The electoral outcomes were ambiguous: a hung parliament and the eventual rule of an Anwar Ibrahim-led coalition of coalitions. Neither result showed a party, coalition or personality that had sufficient authority to undertake the clearly needed reforms of Malaysian political economy and society. Malaysia's 2022 General Election: Crafting Power in a Crowded Arena explores the electoral campaigns and their results in various states from many personal and interest group perspectives. This book boldly offers insights into what the 2022 general election was and where it will take Malaysia. -Khoo Boo Teik Professor Emeritus, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo Author of Paradoxes of Mahathirism and Anwar Ibrahim: Tenacious in Dissent, Hopeful in Power Malaysia's 2022 General Election: Crafting Power in a Crowded Arena assembles a truly stellar lineup of academic experts as well as political candidates themselves for a novel and insightful examination of a pivotal Malaysian election. Approachable and astute, the volume explores themes of polarization, fluidity and instability as these shaped the political landscape in 2022. The political uncertainty and economic precarity of that time are essential parts of the story, as several chapters highlight, in the wake of both partisan upheaval and pandemic-and hence both public gratitude for Covid relief and frustration with the dislocation and hardship so many experienced. Salient and disruptive, too, were the entry of millions of new voters, thanks to newly enacted automatic registration and a reduction in the voting age, and shifting media habits across generations. Intervening subnational elections in several states, in both Peninsular and East Malaysia, had hinted at voters' leanings, but political players and observers risked over-projecting ephemeral trends and state-specific dynamics onto the national canvas. The contributions collected here each offer deep dives into specific dimensions and campaigns, including first-hand perspectives. Yet, taken together, the volume offers insight into the Malaysian polity as a whole, germane beyond any one election. -Meredith Weiss Professor of Political Science, University at Albany Author of The Roots of Resilience: Party Machines and Grassroots Politics in Southeast Asia Hung parliament! The first in Malaysia's history, it deserves this twenty-one-chapter book-an incisive and timely contribution to the evolving scholarship on Malaysian politics. With sharp analysis and rich contextual depth provided by a group of political scientists and Malaysian politicians, the book unpacks the shifting alliances, enduring structures, emerging fractures, global pandemic effects, and great hopes that have shaped the country's political landscape since GE2022. This volume not only captures the significance of recent electoral outcomes contributing to the establishment of Kerajaan Perpaduan (Unity Government), but it also draws compelling connections to the seismic changes and political tussles since GE2018. Essential reading for practitioners, scholars, analysts and anyone seeking to understand the complexities of power, reform and resilience in Malaysia's democratic trajectory. -Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani Professor of Politics and International Relations, Universiti Utara Malaysia Author of Islam and Religious Expression in Malaysia

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

List of Figures

List of Tables

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Abbreviations and Glossary

INTRODUCTION

1. GE2022 In Perspective: The Context of the Contest / Hwok Aun Lee, Francis E. Hutchinson

Box: Voting and Turnout by Race and Age / Kian Ming Ong

PART I: CAMPAIGN DYNAMICS

2. Malaysia's Coalitions Before and After GE2022: Fragmentation and Unity / Kai Ostwald

3. The Reform Agenda During Malaysia's Democratic Transition, 2018-2023: Hope, Disruption and Convergence / Kok Hin Ooi

4. Politics, Pandemics and Economics: Malaysia's Post-Covid Election / Cassey Lee

5. Scroll, Taps and Votes: The Digital Battlefield of Malaysia's GE2022 / Nuurrianti Jalli

6. Learning Democracy: Competing Coalition Logos, Manifestos and Anti-Corruption Campaigning in GE2022 / Elvin Ong, Xin Ying Chan

PART II: INTEREST GROUPS

Peninsular Malaysia: Distribution of Malay Population

Peninsular Malaysia: Distribution of Malay Population (Rural/Semi-Urban/Urban)

Peninsular Malaysia: Distribution of Chinese Population

Peninsular Malaysia: Distribution of Indian Population

Sabah and Sarawak: Distribution of Chinese Population

Peninsular Malaysia: Distribution of Orang Asli Population

Peninsular Malaysia: Distribution of Youth Population

Sabah and Sarawawk: Distribution of Youth Population

7. The "Green Voters": What They Want, Really Really Want / Faizal Musa

8. The Rural Malay Heartlands: Shifting Grounds / Serina Rahman

9. Minorities Under the Microscope: Chinese, Indian and Indigenous Voters / Danesh Chacko

10. Newfound Voices, Surprising Choices: How Malaysia's Young Voters are Shaping Politics / James Chai

PART III: STATES

Selangor: Ethnic Composition and Area Classification of Parliamentary Constituencies

Johor: Ethnic Composition and Area Classification of Parliamentary Constituencies

Kelantan: Ethnic Composition and Area Classification of Parliamentary Constituencies

Sarawak: Ethnic Composition and Area Classification of Parliamentary Constituencies

Sabah: Ethnic Composition and Area Classification of Parliamentary Constituencies

11. Fortress Cracked: Pakatan's Defence of Selangor and KL / Hwok Aun Lee, Adib Zalkapli

12. Johor in GE2022: Same-Same Yet Different / Francis Hutchinson, Kevin Zhang

13. The Green Wave in Kelantan: A Clean Sweep / Azmil Tayeb

14. Sarawak in GE2022: Gabungan Parti Sarawak Consolidated, Pakatan Harapan Consoled / Poh Onn Lee

15. From Friend to Foe and Back Again: Sabah's Shifting Coalitions, Personalities, and Federal-State Dynamics / Tony Paridi, Arnold Puyok

IV: PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES

Maps

16. New Heights for PAS, New Norms for Malaysia? Reflections from Bachok / Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman

17. Evolving Malaysian Polity: From the Ipoh Timor Vantage Point / Howard Lee

18. Setiawangsa: Keeping the Faith in Keadilan and Reformasi / Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad

19. Being Human and Traversing the Spectrum of Emotions: How We Fell Short in Alor Gajah / Shahril Hamdan

20. Reaching Parliament, Slowly but Surely: Sri Aman's Breakthrough for Dayak Women / Doris Sophia Brodie

CONCLUSION

21. Crafting Power in Post-2022 Malaysia: Continuities and Ruptures with GE2018 / Francis E. Hutchinson, Hwok Aun Lee

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed June 25 2026)

ISBN:

9789815306385