We’re just three weeks away from the Johor state elections. Many experts have stressed the importance of the upcoming elections, not just to Johoreans, but with regard to our national political landscape too. The 2018 General Elections highlighted the need for a united opposition in the battle against Barisan Nasional. However, it’s becoming painfully clear – if it wasn’t already – that opposition is far from united. Dr Bridget Welsh joins us to share her insights.

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Why doesn’t Kuala Lumpur have ADUNs / state legislators, similar to other states? The city does have MPs, after all. Why is there a Federal Territories minister in the cabinet and why is said minister almost always from outside the Federal Territories? Why does any of this matter and what can we do about it?

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The Johor State Assembly officially has been dissolved as of Jan 22. While the exact date of the elections is yet to be announced, it must take place within 60 days of the dissolution of the state assembly. But what is the significance of this election? In fact, what’s the importance of state elections in the first place and how is it different from GE?

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On today’s show, Dr Oh Ei Sun joins us to discuss a few different things concerning our political landscape today, namely what’s been going on in Sarawak since GPS won a huge mandate, the possibility of an upcoming state election in Johor, as well as a little bit on the growing imbalances in constituency sizes.

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Malaysia’s political history has been in flux for some time. Things changed in 2018 when the people voted out the incumbent Barisan Nasional after 60 Years. But what’s perhaps even more significant is Langkah Sheraton and the events that have transpired since. Are we on the cusp of a new political order – perhaps a radical shift in a new direction? Liew Chin Tong joins us to discuss his paper.

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2021 is certainly one for the history books. Malaysian Covid-19 death toll reached a grim 31 000, we got hit by unprecedented floods which affected around 70 000 individuals and counting, a State of Emergency was declared, Parliament was shut down and in and around all of this, elite level politicking and musical chairs carried on, completely detached from the realities and suffering on the ground. But perhaps there is also a silver lining to all of this – people rising up and banding together. James Chai joins us to discuss.

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On this edition of Best of Beyond the Ballot Box 2021, we look back at the year that was in Malaysian politics – from infighting in UMNO, another scramble for numbers in Parliament to Ismail Sabri’s 100 Days as Prime Minister.

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For the last two weeks of the year, we’re going to be revisiting some of the best discussions we’ve had throughout the year. On this edition of Best of Beyond the Ballot Box 2021, we’ll be looking at democracy in Malaysia and the power of the people.

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At long last, The lowering of voting age from 21 to 18 and automatic voter registration has been gazetted and was officially implemented yesterday, December 15th. This means that the upcoming Sarawak State Elections will be the last time Malaysian youths aged 18-21 will miss out on. 

Today, we catch up with Qyira Yusri, Co-Founder of UNDI 18 to discuss how she’s feeling after tirelessly pushing for this for 5 years, and also what this could mean for the future of our political landscape. But before that, we revisit a conversation we had with the two co-founders of UNDI 18, Qyira and Tharma Pillai, back in April, on how they started this movement 5 years ago while they were still students in the US.

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The Sarawak State Elections nominations took place a couple of days ago. A record number of 349 candidates are contesting 82 seats in Malaysia’s largest state. Multi-cornered fights are happening in all but four constituencies, with Dadong seeing an eight-corned battle. Dr Bridget Welsh joins us to discuss.

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