Malaysian by-elections next month looms as litmus test for under-siege Prime Minister Najib Razak
While Najib has retained the support of senior officials during recent scandals, the key is how rank-and-file voters view his performance
Malaysia will hold by-elections next month after two lawmakers were killed in a helicopter crash, a fresh chance to assess Prime Minister Najib Razak’s popularity after a recent win for his ruling party in the Sarawak state election.
Polls in Sungai Besar in Selangor state and for Kuala Kangsar in the northern Perak region will be held on June 18, Election Commission Chairman Hashim Abdullah said in a televised press conference.
Deputy plantation minister Noriah Kasnon and Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, were among six people killed when the chopper they were traveling in crashed last week in Sarawak. Both were lawmakers from Najib’s United Malays National Organisation and were re-elected to parliament in the 2013 general election.
Najib has faced political tensions for nearly a year over funding scandals and financial troubles at a state fund. He got a boost when his Barisan Nasional coalition kept power with a bigger majority in Sarawak, the nation’s largest state located across the South China Sea from peninsular Malaysia. While his pledges of development funds may have swung votes in Sarawak, voters on the peninsula may be more attuned to the turmoil surrounding the premier.
Barisan Nasional’s Sarawak win – it secured 72 of 82 seats – was also helped by a fractured opposition, as parties fielded multiple candidates in some seats. The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, has called on other opposition groups to avoid three-way contests in the two by-elections, the Star newspaper reported Friday. The seats have traditionally been contested by PAS, deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man was quoted as saying.