COMMENT | The Malaysian general election (GE14) is due to be called anytime from now, but no later than Aug 24. Following the declaration by the opposition front Pakatan Harapan to name Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister designate if the opposition wins GE14, the battle for the hearts and minds of Malaysian voters has begun.

Prior to this latest declaration by Harapan in January, the Malaysian opposition camp was in disarray.

The first major setback happened soon after GE13 when PAS, an Islamic party with sizeable electoral support in the northern states of peninsular Malaysia left the opposition coalition, then named Pakatan Rakyat.

With Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the opposition coalition in jail, the prospect of the opposition coalition winning enough votes to form an alternative government was remote. The public image of the opposition coalition was further tarnished by personality conflicts and power struggles.

The political landscape changed significantly once former prime minister Mahathir formed Bersatu to woo Malay voters away from the ruling Umno party.

Mahathir still enjoys significant goodwill within the Malay electorate even though non-Malay voters are divided about his legacy. Some rightly blamed him for the rise of crony capitalism in Malaysia, and for the Islamisation of the state. A tiny but articulate minority, and the radical youths, cannot forgive Mahathir for using the Internal Security Act 1960 against social activists during his term in office.

On his own, Mahathir, at 92, despite his claim of wanting to sign up one million members, would not be able to unseat Najib, the man he had once chosen for the premiership.

The opposition’s disarray, coupled with a rather buoyant economy brought about partly by the influx of Chinese investments, substantially benefited Najib’s electoral prospects despite a general decline in real earnings following the introduction of GST.

Hence, in mid-December last year, a poll by Merdeka Center, an independent pollster, predicted that the incumbent Najib-led ruling coalition might win a two-third majority in parliamentary seats even if they were to lose the popular support. This anomaly is the likely outcome of electoral boundary changes, voters fatigue, and disappointment with the opposition. Currently, the ruling coalition enjoys just a simple majority.

Lingering doubts

With this latest show of unity at Harapan’s national convention this year, the fortune of the opposition could potentially change for the better....