COMMENT | Road to GE15: Spotlight on Indian voters

COMMENT | From the Hindraf protests of 2007 to the recent decisive vote swings away from Pakatan Harapan in Malacca and Johor polls, Malaysian Indians play important roles in shaping campaign narratives and determining election outcomes. They are too often ignored, both in governance and in analysis.

It is the time to shine a light on the critical role that Indians play in national elections. This community comprises 6.6 percent of the population and an estimated 7.2 percent or 1.52 million total voters. Diverse and often fragmented internally with intense (and sometimes destructive) competition, this group of voters are concentrated along Malaysia’s West Coast.

How they vote and whether they vote is critical in close races, especially in Johor, Malacca, Perak and Selangor. While dispersed across constituencies, they are a large plurality in eight seats, detailed below. In all of these key seats, except Bagan Datuk won by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Indian support for Pakatan Harapan was...