SOSS - SEA Seminar | Malaysia’s 2022 Election and its Aftermath: What the Four Arenas framework tells us about voting behaviour and government stability

Malaysia’s 2022 Election and its Aftermath: What the Four Arenas framework tells us about voting behaviour and government stability

Malaysia’s recent general election clearly confirmed that UMNO’s long dominance of the country’s politics has ended. As the election produced an unprecedented hung parliament, however, it left open fundamental questions about what comes next. This seminar updates a framework that divides Malaysia into four distinct electoral areas, each with their own distinct, identity-based polities. The findings provide a coherent perspective that underscores the continued central role of Malay-nationalist parties and suggests substantial continuities in political support between 2013, 2018, and 2022. While voting behaviour has been relatively stable, however, several key institutions have been changed by the political instability of the past few years. This has important implications for the new government’s stability.

SPEAKER

Kai Ostwald

Associate Professor of Political Science, The University of British Columbia

Kai Ostwald is Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, as well as Visiting Senior Fellow with the Malaysian Studies Programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. He is also Director of UBC’s Institute of Asian Research and Associate Editor of Pacific Affairs. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. His work has addressed political institutions and elections in Southeast Asia, and has been published in leading disciplinary and areas studies journals.

MODERATOR

Sebastian Dettman

Assistant Professor of Political Science, SMU

Dr Sebastian Dettman is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University. He researches politics in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia, focusing on political parties, electoral competition, and democratization. He completed his PhD in the Department of Government at Cornell University, and a Masters in Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Michigan. Prior to SMU, he was a 2018-19 Postdoctoral Fellow in Contemporary Asia at the Shorenstein Center at Stanford University. His research has been published in outlets including Democratization, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Electoral Studies, and South East Asia Research.

Remarks: Due to limited seats, registration is on a first come first served basis.