Sebastian Dettman, a PhD candidate in the Department of Government, is the author of this Washington Post opinion piece about the recent Malaysian elections.
"Malaysia’s ruling coalition had been in power for 61 years — until the May 9 surprise electoral upset by the Hope Pact (Pakatan Harapan) party coalition" Dettman writes. "While Southeast Asia has seen little in the way of democratic advance in recent years, Hope Pact’s victory was an example of electoral power against steep authoritarian odds.
"As results came in, it soon became clear that this was not a narrow victory by the opposition. Instead, the opposition and ruling coalitions essentially switched places. Hope Pact, combined with additional allied parties, won 122 out of 222 seats. In 2013, the last general election, its predecessor opposition coalition claimed 89 seats."
