KUALA LUMPUR: Infighting over nominations has led to a record 79 Malaysian independent parliamentary candidates, further complicating predictions for an election already widely seen as too close to call.
Party discord has affected both the 56-year-old ruling coalition and the three-party opposition, which are waging a bitter fight for May 5 elections shaping up as the most competitive in Malaysian history.
Final nominations for 222 parliament seats were unveiled Saturday, kicking off the two-week campaign and a slate of would-be candidates on both sides, including incumbents, have gone rogue as independents after being left off their parties’ lists.
“Party discipline is important, we will issue letters today to sack those who contested as independents,” Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted by local media yesterday.
Other parties, including those within the opposition, have made similar announcements.
In some districts, candidates from different opposition parties, which had pledged to work together, will now face each other, threatening to split their votes.
Independents could make a difference in many closely fought seats, said Bridget Welsh, a Malaysia politics analyst at Singapore Management University. “It’s a combination of things: disgruntlement, party infighting, planting of people, a situation of more people entering the race. It’s going to make things more complicated,” she said.
AFP
