Malaysia's 14th General Election And Umno's Fall: Intra-Elite Feuding and the Pursuit of Power

Editor: Edmund Terence Gomez & Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9780367362423

Year: 2019

Weight: 0.445kg

Pages: 298pp

Price: RM80

The 2018 Malaysian General Election will stand as a major defining event in Malaysian history, when the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition unexpectedly lost power in the country they had ruled for over half a century. This volume brings together scholars who assess one fundamental factor that brought about this game-changing event in Malaysian politics: intra-elite feuding in the leading Malay-based political parties. This study provides an analysis of individual state politics as well as national trends shaped by the actions of leaders in government and the opposition.

An indispensable guide for scholars studying the politics of Malaysia and of Southeast Asia more broadly, it will be of great interest for all readers with an interest in Malaysian politics.

"This excellent volume offers a comprehensive account of Malaysia's 14th General Election, underpinned by insightful case studies that grapple with the puzzle of the defeat of a well-funded ruling coalition that had never lost an election run on an uneven electoral authoritarian playing field. In explaining this ‘stunning election’ amidst ‘elite contestations,’ the book’s contributors offer insightful theoretically-informed thematic analyses and fine-grained studies of voting trends. The book emphasizes how intra-elite Malay feuding undermined once cohesive patronage politics, strengthened the opposition through defections, and helped forge an alternative coalition that ran on a ‘cash is king’ slogan that targeted the regime’s kleptocracy."

Mark R. Thompson, Professor of Politics, Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

"The surprise toppling of the Barisan Nasional government in May 2018 after more than 60 years in power will go down in history as one of Malaysia’s monumental events. Based on extensive field research before, during, and after the election, this collection of essays focuses its analysis on the dynamics as they unfolded within the Malay political leadership in the local, state, and national level. A must read for all who seek not only to understand what happened on 9 May 2018 and why it happened, but also its consequences for our understanding of trends and trajectories of Malay politics in Malaysia."

Joseph Chinyong Liow, Tan Kah Kee Chair Professor and Dean of College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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About the Editors

Edmund Terence Gomez is a Professor of Political Economy at the Faculty of Economics & Administration, University of Malaya. He has also held academic appointments at the University of Leeds, Murdoch University, Australian National University, and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. He served as the Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva and was a Visiting Professor at Kobe University, the University of Michigan, and the University of California. He specialises in government-market relations and the linkages between politics, policies and business development.

Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman is an Assistant Professor with the Malaysia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He also coordinates RSIS’ Seminar Series on Muslim Societies in Asia. His research interests include the domestic and international politics of Southeast and South Asian countries, transnational Islamic political movements, and Islamophobia studies.