Factbox-Malaysia’s prime minister candidates in upcoming ballot By Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia will go to the polls on Nov. nineteenth in what is about to be a extremely aggressive race between three main coalitions led by incumbent Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, long-time opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim, and former premier Muhyiddin Yassin.

No single coalition is anticipated to win a easy majority in parliament, which is required to type a authorities, because the votes are set to be cut up greater than ever earlier than among the many three blocs and quite a few different smaller events.

Listed below are the candidates vying for the highest job:

ISMAIL SABRI YAAKOB, 62

Incumbent Ismail is the prime ministerial candidate for the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has received all however one election in Malaysia’s historical past.

He solely served as premier for 14 months, earlier than an influence battle compelled him to name for early polls.

Ismail faces the tough process of convincing Malaysians to vote for Barisan regardless of corruption expenses towards a few of its leaders.

Former Barisan chief and ex-premier Najib Razak is in jail for the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB graft scandal, which value the coalition the election in 2018.

Ismail is a part of the United Malays Nationwide Organisation (UMNO) political occasion, which leads Barisan and prioritises pursuits of the dominant ethnic-Malay neighborhood in multi-ethnic, Muslim-majority Malaysia.

A survey by unbiased pollster Merdeka Heart final month confirmed that Barisan lags behind Anwar’s coalition in voter desire, although Ismail is extra well-liked than Anwar.

ANWAR IBRAHIM, 75

Anwar leads the Pakatan Harapan alliance, a multi-ethnic coalition that ousted Barisan from energy in 2018.

Anwar’s coalition is essentially the most favoured by voters at 26%, though practically 31% had been but to determine who to vote for, the Merdeka Heart ballot confirmed.

Anwar has eyed the premiership for greater than 20 years since he served in Mahathir Mohamad’s authorities within the Nineteen Nineties as deputy prime minister and finance minister.

However the two fell out, with Anwar main large protests towards Mahathir and calling for reforms.

The 2 buried the hatchet in 2018 and got here collectively to defeat Barisan. However their alliance collapsed lower than two years later because of infighting over Mahathir’s promise at hand over energy to Anwar, returning Barisan to energy as a part of one other coalition.

Anwar has spent round a decade in jail on what he says had been politically motivated sodomy and corruption expenses.

MUHYIDDIN YASSIN, 75

The previous prime minister leads the Perikatan Nasional bloc, which has emerged as a 3rd pressure in Malaysia.

Muhyiddin is profitable essential assist from the bulk Malays, and taking away some voters from Barisan, analysts say.

His coalition prioritises Malay pursuits and consists of the Islamist occasion PAS, which has touted rolling out sharia or Islamic legislation.

He was an important participant within the collapse of the Pakatan administration in 2020, main a gaggle of defectors to type one other authorities in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Muhyiddin, who underwent therapy for pancreatic most cancers in 2018, has additionally served as deputy prime minister earlier than.

AHMAD ZAHID HAMIDI, 69

Whereas Ismail is the official prime ministerial candidate for Barisan, there may be intense hypothesis that Zahid – who leads the coalition – might attempt to go for the job if his alliance wins.

Zahid, a former deputy prime minister, has denied the rumours.

Zahid is extra senior to Ismail within the coalition, which is stricken by infighting.

Earlier this month, Zahid purged the coalition of some long-time members who had been aligned with Ismail and dropped them as candidates for the election.

He’s on trial for graft, and has pleaded not responsible.