Decision day in Malacca: Race, apathy and political gambits

MALACCA POLLS | Curtains on the 12-day campaign for the Malacca polls are set to come down at midnight and Malaccans will elect their new government tomorrow.

As the clock ticks, the three major coalitions contesting for seats in the State Legislative Assembly - BN, PN and Pakatan Harapan - are making a final push.

PN, for example, took a page out of the opposition's playbook of making symbolic moves aimed at building hype in the face of a formidable BN machinery, announcing its Tanjung Bidara candidate Mas Ermieyati Samsudin as its chief ministerial candidate just two days before polling day.

If PN wins, that would make her the first female head of government in a state.

Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan, which started off on a shaky foot trying to placate grassroots unhappiness over the fielding of Umno defectors in the polls, appears to...