Can Malaysia’s unity government survive a major BN win in state polls?

Knife-edge state polls in Johor and Negeri Sembilan may reconfigure Malaysian politics, as a regrouped Malay nationalist right seeks big wins to pressure Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim into calling an early election.Barisan Nasional (BN), the Malay-led bloc, is going head-to-head against Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the ballots to be held this month and next, in a move by a key government coalition member that could destabilise the prime minister’s fragile administration from within.Analysts say an immediate collapse of Anwar’s parliamentary majority is unlikely. But they are watching for the fallout from a strong BN performance that could push its core Malay party, Umno, to demand Anwar call early national polls. The next general election is not due until 2028.“If BN reaps a big victory [in Johor], this could be replicated in other state polls … with a push for the party to exit from the unity government if the general election is not called soon,” said Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist at Sunway University.BN, which dominated Malaysian politics for nearly six decades until a shock 2018 election loss, is led by the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) the country’s main Malay nationalist party.Its downfall followed the 1MDB corruption scandal that engulfed its figurehead Najib Razak, who remains in jail for graft convictions.