General Elections in Malaysia scheduled to be held on 5 May 2013

The Malaysian Election Commission in Kuala Lumpur on 10 April 2013 announced that the general election in Malaysia is to be held on 5 May 2013. The election chairman of Malaysia, Abdul Aziz Yusof declared 20 April 2013 as the day to start former campaign for the general elections.

The scheduled election will decide the fate of the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Najib Razak (National Front), as the governing party has enjoyed a tenure of 56 years (since independence) uninterrupted governance in the country. For the first time, the National Front lost two-third majority in the parliament in 2008 general elections.

The coalition government of Malaysia is composed of three parties and they define themselves on three different racial lines namely, one is the Malays, the other one is of the Indians and the third is of the Chinese.

The ruling coalition Government led by Najib Razak will be challenged by the leader of opposition on the former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim from the Peoples’ Alliance. In 2008 elections his party won 5 of 13 states of Malaysia.