Students in major public universities go to the polls today to elect their representatives for next year under new election rules that are expected to give the dominant anti-establishment groups a tough time in repeating their win last year.

The election rules implemented this year have been criticised by students as a further restriction on campus democracy and transparency.

In Universiti Malaya (UM), for instance, seats have been cut down from 16 to seven. A student who declined to be named claimed that this was an attempt by the school administration to help the pro-establishment faction.