Malaysia’s grand old party eyes a comeback
The political chaos of the past few years gives UMNO a chance at regaining power
ZAMBRY ABDUL KADIR is giving his fifth pep talk of the day. A dozen men and women crowd around a table in the humid kitchen of a home in Lekir, a village in the western Malaysian seat of Lumut where Mr Zambry is standing for parliament. At his side is a whiteboard on which an aide has scrawled the electoral maths: 1,183 votes are up for grabs in this and nearby villages. A solid 583 are already in the bag, according to his ground operation. But more voters can be won over.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Um, maybe”
Asia November 12th 2022
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