- 期刊
Anwar-led MADANI Government in the 2023 Six State Elections and Some Lessons
摘要
This paper analyses the news coverage of the 2023 Malaysian state election by the Malay daily, Berita Harian, focusing on the issues reported in the newspapers vis-à-vis the result of surveys by the Ilham Centre and Merdeka Center on the voters' issues of concern. The election results showed that the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) had gained more state seats and that the voting is along ideological lines despite the prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's concerted effort in projecting a unity front via his Malaysia Madani vision. The election results also showed weaknesses in the ruling government's communication strategy, primarily in their attempts to convince voters that the Malaysia Madani policies would address voters' concerns especially the rising cost of living. This paper notes that the ruling government should act as a government by concentrating their focus on directly addressing people's concerns, rather than be trapped in the oppositionist mindset of attacking their political opponents which they have been doing for many years before assuming power in November 2022.