MALAY POLITICS POST 15TH GENERAL ELECTIONS

The recent removal several UMNO top leaders notably Khairy Jamaluddin, Noh Omar and the suspension of Hishamuddin Hussein may not bode well for the image United Malay National Organization’s (UMNO) but to some factions within the party, it was the necessary move to ensure party stability and secure its position in the current unity government. Whatever happens next within UMNO will surely change the Malay political landscape but until its party elections in 2026, no one can tell if UMNO would remain the same or embark on a reform agenda it needed to recapture the imagination of the Malay community in the country.

In January 2023, the usually much anticipated UMNO Annual General Meeting (AGM) received much less attention among Malaysians compared to previous years. The UMNO AGM used to be an event to watch by many. The main event by the country’s largest Malay party usually sets the tone and determines Malaysia’s political direction and acts as the driving factor of Malay politics in the country.

However, in 2023, things changed. UMNO is no longer the country’s largest Malay party (by the number of seats in the parliament) after the 15
th General Elections (GE15), taken over by the Islamic-based party, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its traditional hold on the rural and semi-urban Malay votes and continues to lose its grip in the Malay heartland states while the Malays voting pattern shifted to Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Although one may argue that the Malays have moved beyond UMNO’s agama, bangsa dan
tanah air or ABATA (religions, race, and homeland), yet a huge number of Malay voters
went to support PN in GE15 on the basis of conservative religious values and nationalist
ideologies.
After the 15th general elections, the country’s political landscape has become more
complex. Post Sheraton Move in 2020 saw several smaller parties began to emerge either
from splinter groups or new political players who saw the need to better represent a certain
minority or interest groups.
The overwhelming inclination to support PAS-PN vis-à-vis race and religious rhetoric to
administrate the country then begs the question – have the Malay community become more
conservative and that political parties began to play the same tune?