MELAKA: The voters of Melaka go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new state government after Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali lost majority support in the State Legislative Assembly last month.

Starting Nov 8, candidates and parties contesting in the state election embarked on campaign strategies that had to comply with strict special standard operating procedures (SOP) including bans on talks, lectures, face-to-face campaigns, house-to-house visits and walkabouts.

To campaign, candidates are encouraged to use social media, electronic and print media, social media platforms and other applications that allow supporters and candidates to interact virtually with voters.

However, it would be difficult to measure people's support - for example, a YouTube live session can attract thousands of viewers, but they are not necessarily voters and they can access their devices while cooking or even sleeping!

Most of the contesting parties described this as somewhat restricting the party machinery to campaign and they also repeatedly appealed for the campaign SOP to be relaxed.

The strict SOP has provided interesting experiences to candidates, including having breakfast up to four times a day, attending kenduri (feast) and mosque events.

Barisan Nasional (BN), for example, uses a more strategic method by calling voters themselves based on data collected by party machinery.

"Support has improved lately. We have a white area voter base and support has not changed since several general elections except for the 14th General Election which reduced slightly," said BN Election director Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

The SOP turned out to be a blessing in disguise as nominations for the state election went smoothly on Nov 8 without provocative incidents by the contesting political parties.

On possible victors, many analysts are predicting that no single party or bloc would be able to command a simple majority, and many also argue that a coalition will only be formed later.

This situation will force parties to opt for cooperation so as to avoid a hung state assembly which could cause a prolonged government administrative crisis even after the election has ended.

BN has said that it was open to any party willing to work together, PN says it will decide on cooperation only after the election while PH deputy chairman Lim Guan Eng said such cooperation needs prior discussion with its coalition partners namely PKR and Amanah.

In a war or competition, no one wants to lose. There are parties that express confidence, yet there are also those who keep mum on the matter.

For example, Mohamad has set a target of winning 18 seats to get a simple majority but will be satisfied if BN wins 15 seats while Pakatan Harapan wants to secure 12 seats, namely three seats for PKR, DAP (seven) and Amanah (two).

PN, on the other hand, has not set any target but political analysts said it has a good chance of securing six seats with the focus being on its chief minister candidate Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.

With uncertainties and intense competition ahead, Independent candidates who win can be Kingmakers as they could be invited to join any coalition to form the next state government.

Twenty-two Independent candidates are in the fray in 16 of the 28 seats up for grabs and 13 have already taken steps of forming an alliance as a show of strength.

What matters now are the voters - there are concerns that many will not vote out of frustration with party leaders who sparked political unrest that eventually led to the state election.

It is also understood that many may not be able to return to vote because they are working in neighbouring countries such as Singapore, but they can still fulfil their responsibility by voting via post.

The state polls were called following the dissolution of the Melaka State Legislative Assembly on Oct 4 after four assemblymen withdrew their support for Sulaiman.

To the voters, choose a candidate who guarantees the stability and prosperity of the state to rise from the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Happy voting!

-- BERNAMA