PETALING JAYA: As the 15th General Election goes into its last lap of campaigning, candidates are now battling to stand out from their rivals, say analysts.
This is especially when this polls are seeing a slew of new parties, coalitions and alliances.
Political analyst Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said by now, it was a battle for recognition and distinction for all political parties and coalitions.
“Nowadays, there are so many parties and coalitions with overlapping and often confusing ideologies, ideals and support bases. These parties and coalitions must try to get voters to recognise their brands.
“This is to ensure that voters are able to distinguish them from their competitors. Only then will voters be willing to come out to vote and, hopefully, vote for them,” he said in an interview.
Universiti Teknologi Mara School of Media and Information Warfare Studies’ security and political analyst Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said at this juncture, most candidates had already determined the best approach to increase their support from voters.
“Political parties need to focus on the overarching issues as well as those highlighted in their manifesto,” he said, adding that parties would be looking at their “fixed deposits” seats and tabulating the numbers carefully.
“With a high number of new voters, it is important for them to identify these seats,” he said.
Political parties, said Noor Nirwandy, would also try their best to portray that they could address the issues faced by the rakyat and bring stability to the country.
“However, it will be hard for newer coalitions to portray themselves as such, like Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) which does not have previous track records,” he said.