TODAY
05 April 2018
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Why BN Is Trying to Run down the Opposition and Discourage Voters from Turning Up
Why BN Is Trying to Run down the Opposition and Discourage Voters from Turning Up
On March 27, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Nur Jazlan Mohamed took to Twitter to chide Cathay Pacific for allowing Malaysians to reschedule their flights for free should their travel plans coincide with polling day for the 14th General Election (GE14).
Given that Cathay Pacific’s decision can help Malaysians to vote, a conclusion that emerges from Mr Nur Jazlan’s exasperation at the airline is that he would much prefer a lower voter turnout.
Crucially for GE14, this renders a concerted strategy to create disillusionment with the opposition significantly more potent in its capacity to discourage a sufficiently large number of voters from even turning up.
The general consensus among political observers and opposition politicians is that a low voter turnout will benefit BN.
… Prashant Waikar is a research analyst at the Malaysia Programme in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
IDSS / Online
Last updated on 06/04/2018
