Rival Malaysia parties need to form alliances to win election

Malaysia’s opposing political blocs will need to form an alliance to stand a chance of governing after this month’s general election, with none likely to win a simple majority, an opinion poll showed on Friday.
There are 21 million Malaysians eligible to vote on Nov. 19, with opposition leaders Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim, and former premier Muhyiddin Yassin competing to unseat a government led by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri’s Barisan Nasional.
The Merdeka Center’s Oct 19-28 survey of 1,209 people showed 24% of voters preferred Barisan, while 26% favoured Anwar’s main opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan. Nearly a third – or 31% – were undecided or had no preference.
About 13% supported Muhyiddin’s opposition bloc, while 2% favoured former premier Mahathir’s newly-formed alliance.
Since the last election in 2018, Malaysia has had three prime ministers as parties governed with razor-thin and unstable majorities.