Malaysia’s coming general election has long been expected to be explosive, given the tense build-up since the last polls in 2013 which saw the opposition making significant inroads. It is panning out to be an epic battle between two coalitions – Barisan Nasional versus Pakatan Harapan, with a third smaller coalition led by the Islamist Parti Islam SeMalaysia playing more of a spoiler than a kingmaker role. NTU RSIS senior fellow Yang Razali Kassim imagined two scenarios: if UMNO wins, it will have to go through reforms to make itself more relevant. If Pakatan Harapan wins, it will have to prove how different it will be from the government it replaces.