• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.53-82
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• 2018

The $14^{th}$ general election which should be held by August 2018 has been a dominant factor for Malaysian politics, economy, social changes and foreign policy in 2017. UMNO, the dominant party within the ruling governmental coalition, has focused on securing Malay support, voters which made them to sought political cooperation with PAS, Malaysia's Islamist opposition party. A consequent event followed by the strategic ties between the two parties is the rise of political Islam in Malaysia though PAS' 'Islamization' or 'desecularization' has never been adopted by UMNO. The rise of political Islam and Malay support have become the most important factor for the next election, which increasingly enhanced the role of 3R of Malaysia politics; Race, Religion, and Royalty. The Pakatan Harapan (PH), the newly formed opposition coalition without PAS, has elected Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister, as its candidate for prime minister. Malaysian economy and foreign policy seem to be subordinated to politics. Stabilizing ringgit and restoring economic growth enabled the Najib's government to reveal 'election budget' for 2018. Najib has spoken out Islam-related international issues including the Rohingya crisis and Jerusalem issue. It is to some extent the extension of domestic politics. The rise of political Islam will be a highly influential not only in the coming election but in the political and social development in the aftermath of the election.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.213-261
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• 2018

On May 9, 2018, regime change took place in Malaysia. It was the first regime change that took place in 61 years after independence in 1957. The regime change was an unexpected result not only in Malaysian experts but also in political circles. Moreover, the outcome of the election was more shocking because the opposition party was divided in this general election. The regime change in Malaysia was enough to attract worldwide attention because it meant the collapse of the oldest regime in the modern political system that exists, except North Korea and China. How could this have happened? In particular, how could the regime change, which had not been accomplished despite opposition parties' cooperation for almost 20 years, could be achieved with the divided opposition forces? What political implications does the 2018 general election result have for political change and democratization in Malaysia? How will the Malaysian politics be developed in the aftermath of the regime change? It is worth noting that during the process of finding answers, a series of general elections since the start of reformasi in 1998 tended to be likened to a series of "tsunami" in the Malaysian electoral history. This phenomenon of tsunami means that, even though very few predicted the possibility of regime change among academia, civil society and political circles, the regime change was not sudden. In other words, the regime in 2018 was the result of the desire and expectation of political change through a series of elections of Malaysian voters last 20 years. In this context, this study, in analyzing the results of the election in 2018, shows that the activation of electoral politics triggered by the reform movement in 1998, along with the specific situational factors in 2018, could lead to collapse of the ruling government for the first time since independence.