https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/526005/feed The latest news and top stories on Barisan Nasional (BN). A major, historically dominant Malaysian political coalition, BN is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and is primarily anchored by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Following a period of shifting alliances, BN is currently a vital partner in the national unity government alongside its former rival, Pakatan Harapan. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s Melaka will hold a state election on November 14 as the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition nears a pact with Islamist rivals, leaving Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s alliance facing another difficult contest after a string of recent defeats. The filing of nominations would begin on October 31 and early voting on November 10, Election Commission chairman Ramlan Harun said on Wednesday. A total of 687,897 registered voters are eligible to elect the state’s 28 assembly members, with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3370001/malaysias-melaka-sets-election-date-bn-pas-near-alliance-against-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3370001/malaysias-melaka-sets-election-date-bn-pas-near-alliance-against-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 06:31:11 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Melaka on Wednesday officially called for a state election – the latest test for Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government, which is already facing an internal feud and growing public frustration over failed reforms. The state assembly was dissolved effective from Wednesday following an official notification sent to the country’s Election Commission the previous day by Ibrahim Durum, the Melaka state assembly’s speaker. “A state election will be held within 60 days of the dissolution... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368450/malaysias-anwar-faces-political-reckoning-melaka-state-calls-poll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368450/malaysias-anwar-faces-political-reckoning-melaka-state-calls-poll?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Sep 2026 02:30:29 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has suffered a double whammy as his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition scrambles to placate public outrage over disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak being granted house arrest and the shock resignation of his transport minister in protest against the royal clemency. But observers do not expect the administration, already reeling from PH defeats in two recent state elections as federal allies turned against the coalition, to implode just yet. Anwar and PH’s reformist... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368244/will-anwars-coalition-malaysia-implode-amid-loke-exit-najib-house-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368244/will-anwars-coalition-malaysia-implode-amid-loke-exit-najib-house-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2026 09:00:40 +0000 The Star The Star A Malaysian city councillor has resigned over remarks he made about the Democratic Action Party (DAP) at the recent Umno general assembly. Permatang Pauh Umno division chief Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said’s resignation as a Seberang Perai city councillor took effect on Monday, according to a letter made public by state local government committee chairman Jason H’ng Mooi Lye on Wednesday. In the letter, Zaidi apologised for his remarks during the assembly in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, where he represented... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3367674/malaysian-councillor-resigns-after-dap-remarks-umno-assembly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3367674/malaysian-councillor-resigns-after-dap-remarks-umno-assembly?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Sep 2026 05:52:04 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan The political impasse in Malaysia’s government has regressed to a game of chicken, experts say, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the former ruling Umno party trading barbs and dares as pressure grows for snap polls with more than a year left to term. Relations between Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and erstwhile rivals Umno have hit its lowest point since the two sides cut a deal to form a unity government in 2022, after a series of recent state polls that saw PH all but decimated... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367316/will-malaysias-umno-pull-plug-coalition-partner-ph?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367316/will-malaysias-umno-pull-plug-coalition-partner-ph?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:28:46 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s once-dominant Umno party has given its clearest indication yet that it will break with the country’s current ruling alliance, after its president called on Friday for a general election to be held immediately. The call comes as the United Malays National Organisation deepens ties with opposition Islamist party the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), buoyed by recent state victories and growing talk of a new alignment to consolidate the Malay vote. “The time has come for the [national... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367176/umno-seeks-early-malaysian-election-cement-conservative-malay-bloc?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367176/umno-seeks-early-malaysian-election-cement-conservative-malay-bloc?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:06:43 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s Umno has been drawn deeper into a royal row in Negeri Sembilan, after the president of the dominant Malay nationalist party denied attending a meeting reportedly linked to a bid to remove the state’s ruler. The controversy has put the new Umno-led state government under pressure barely six weeks after taking office, reviving the same royal crisis that helped bring down its predecessor and force a snap election in August. The episode is particularly sensitive for Umno, which has long... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367056/palace-plot-malaysias-negeri-sembilan-entangles-umno-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3367056/palace-plot-malaysias-negeri-sembilan-entangles-umno-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:46:04 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Former Malaysian pilgrimage fund chairman Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to abusing his position to secure a lucrative corporate post and influence a 193.5 million ringgit (US$47.5 million) investment by the fund. Azeez, 60, a veteran Umno Supreme Council member, is the highest-profile politician to be charged so far in the fallout from a royal inquiry into the state-run savings fund Tabung Haji. Wearing a purple police lock-up uniform and handcuffed as he stood in the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366877/umno-heavyweight-charged-malaysian-haj-fund-scandal-party-eyes-comeback?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366877/umno-heavyweight-charged-malaysian-haj-fund-scandal-party-eyes-comeback?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Sep 2026 05:35:14 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan The roar from thousands of People’s Justice Party (PKR) delegates gathered at a grand convention centre in Melaka last weekend exuded all the confidence expected of a party leading Malaysia’s government. The past three years have been the culmination of more than two decades of struggle for PKR, with it finally achieving its long-held goal of installing leader Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister and wielding the power to push through reforms. Yet beneath the confident facade lurks a ruling party now... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364857/malaysias-anwar-traded-reform-power-now-umno-wants-it-all?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364857/malaysias-anwar-traded-reform-power-now-umno-wants-it-all?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:19 +0000 Reuters Reuters Thailand is ready to shift its approach to a slow-burn insurgency in its Muslim-majority deep south and revitalise a peace process, Bangkok’s chief negotiator has said, as violence simmers in one of Southeast Asia’s longest-running conflicts. Any such move could mark a return to addressing the political roots of a conflict that has killed more than 7,800 people since 2004, when the latest round of the insurgency led mainly by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) flared in Thailand’s southernmost... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3364553/thailand-seeks-new-path-end-deadly-southern-insurgency-top-negotiator?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3364553/thailand-seeks-new-path-end-deadly-southern-insurgency-top-negotiator?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:02:40 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof A veteran Malaysian politician’s resignation from parliament and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s People’s Justice Party (PKR) to join a fledgling progressive rival widens an exodus of reformist figures as the ruling coalition reels from a string of electoral setbacks. Wong Chen, a three-term lawmaker who had spent nearly two decades in PKR, said on Wednesday that he had applied to join newly rebranded Bersama after resigning his Subang parliamentary seat on Monday and leaving PKR the following... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363763/veteran-malaysian-mp-wong-quits-over-toxic-politics-leaving-reform-agenda-doubt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363763/veteran-malaysian-mp-wong-quits-over-toxic-politics-leaving-reform-agenda-doubt?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:38:09 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim accused opposition lawmakers of staging “political drama” on Tuesday after they walked out of a special parliamentary session on a long-awaited royal inquiry into the country’s Muslim pilgrimage savings fund. The confrontation came less than two weeks after Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition lost power in Negeri Sembilan. During campaigning, the prime minister had repeatedly invoked the Tabung Haji inquiry as evidence of the need to confront corruption... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363636/malaysias-anwar-slams-political-drama-after-opposition-walks-out-tabung-haji-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363636/malaysias-anwar-slams-political-drama-after-opposition-walks-out-tabung-haji-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Aug 2026 07:15:11 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, has stepped back from the deputy presidency of his ruling People’s Justice Party (PKR), raising questions over his ability to hold together the political movement he built after a bruising run of electoral setbacks and defections by former allies. PKR’s leadership has sought to frame the move by Nurul Izzah, one of the party’s most recognisable reformist figures, not as a resignation but as a temporary break – exposing... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363294/malaysia-nurul-izzahs-pkr-exit-deepens-questions-over-anwars-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363294/malaysia-nurul-izzahs-pkr-exit-deepens-questions-over-anwars-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:36:19 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan The door is fast closing on Malaysia’s reform experiment after nearly a decade of false starts and political intrigue, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition facing the real possibility of being booted out of office as the country’s ethnic majority seeks the return of strong Malay leadership. Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) suffered bruising losses in three state elections since last November, most significantly losing control of Negeri Sembilan on Saturday after nearly eight years in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363025/malaysian-politics-heads-reset-malay-nationalism-surge-threatens-reform-experiment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3363025/malaysian-politics-heads-reset-malay-nationalism-surge-threatens-reform-experiment?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Aug 2026 06:54:16 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Ushar Daniele Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Ushar Daniele The Malaysian ruling coalition’s poor showing in the Negeri Sembilan poll on Saturday marks its third straight defeat in eight months – an embarrassing run that is forcing its largest party to confront the cost of governing with former rivals. Pakatan Harapan (PH) won 11 of the state’s 36 seats on Saturday, down from 17 in 2023, while Barisan Nasional (BN) secured 18 and its electoral partner, Perikatan Nasional (PN), took seven. The setback followed PH’s near-wipeout in Sabah last November,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362709/three-strikes-daps-out-loss-malaysias-negeri-sembilan-puts-coalition-notice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362709/three-strikes-daps-out-loss-malaysias-negeri-sembilan-puts-coalition-notice?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Aug 2026 01:00:31 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele The crushing defeat of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in the Negeri Sembilan polls has raised doubts about his political strategy, as state rival but federal ally Barisan Nasional (BN) grows in dominance. Analysts say BN’s effective cooperation with opposition party Perikatan Nasional (PN) could reshape Malaysia’s political landscape ahead of the next national election, due by February 2028. BN won 18 of the 36 assembly seats in Negeri Sembilan on... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362659/what-negeri-sembilan-loss-means-malaysian-pm-anwars-political-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362659/what-negeri-sembilan-loss-means-malaysian-pm-anwars-political-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim suffered a second election setback within weeks on Saturday after his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition lost to rivals in the Negeri Sembilan polls. Official results at midnight showed Barisan Nasional (BN) winning 18 seats, coupled with Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) seven for a supermajority of 25 over PH’s 11 in the 36-seat assembly. The country’s second state election in under a month was a test of the stability of Anwar’s coalition government, as PH locked... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362591/negeri-sembilan-votes-malaysias-political-allies-lock-horns-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362591/negeri-sembilan-votes-malaysias-political-allies-lock-horns-again?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Aug 2026 01:30:16 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Ushar Daniele,Vincent Tan Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Ushar Daniele,Vincent Tan The coalition of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was dealt a blow on Saturday after state rival Barisan Nasional (BN) trounced Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the Johor election. BN cruised to victory with 48 seats out of 56 up for grabs, while Anwar’s PH managed only eight. BN’s result was better than the 40 seats it secured in the 2022 race. The two-thirds majority it retains gives it absolute power to pass constitutional amendments and redraw electoral boundaries in Johor. The state was turned... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360186/malaysias-johor-votes-government-allies-turn-each-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360186/malaysias-johor-votes-government-allies-turn-each-other?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jul 2026 01:00:17 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Ushar Daniele,Vincent Tan Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Ushar Daniele,Vincent Tan Voters in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor will cast their ballots on Saturday in a high-stakes election that is expected to bring Barisan Nasional (BN) back to power, exposing deeper cracks in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration. BN is part of Anwar’s unity government but will go head to head against federal partner Pakatan Harapan (PH) in a state long regarded as a BN stronghold. The contest for Johor’s 56-seat assembly has put Anwar’s multi-ethnic party in an awkward position, but... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360119/johor-election-where-winning-isnt-enough-malaysias-barisan-nasional?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360119/johor-election-where-winning-isnt-enough-malaysias-barisan-nasional?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jul 2026 09:32:56 +0000