Melaka state election: Anwar's PH, Muhyiddin's Bersatu avoid clashes in 4 seats as candidates confirmed

Analysts say Melaka could serve as a testing ground to see whether Bersatu can help Pakatan Harapan win over Malay voters ahead of Malaysia's next general election.

Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim (left) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Muhyiddin Yassin. (Photos: Facebook/Anwar Ibrahim, Muhyiddin Yassin)

Aqil Haziq Mahmud 31 Oct 2026 02:47PM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST KUALA LUMPUR: The campaign for the 16th Melaka state election officially began on Saturday (Oct 31) with all 28 seats to be contested, the Election Commission announced after candidates were confirmed on nomination day.

The line-up for the Nov 14 election offers clues about potential political alliances, notably with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and former premier Muhyiddin Yassin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) avoiding direct contests in four seats.

Analysts told CNA the nominations show PH and Bersatu are informally cooperating, although some internal pushback from at least one component party means they have not explicitly admitted it.

Future cooperation depends on whether Bersatu can help PH win some of the Malay votes in Melaka and stem the “Malay tsunami”, the analysts said, referring to how the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) partnership has swept to resounding victories in recent state elections.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less This comes as BN is widely expected to retain control of Melaka after successful campaigns alongside the opposition coalition PN in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, as the coalitions continue to test their alliance ahead of the 16th General Election, due by February 2028.

A total of 79 candidates are vying for the 28 seats in Melaka – which will see straight fights in 11 constituencies, 11 three-cornered contests, and six four-cornered contests.

PH will contest in 24 seats, while Bersatu has fielded candidates in seven seats.

BN, Anwar’s partner in the federal unity government, will contest 23 seats in a partnership with PN, which will contest the remaining five seats.

BN component party the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) had threatened to derail the alliance after it said it was unsatisfied with the number of seats it was allocated following initial negotiations.

This dispute appeared to have been resolved following eleventh-hour talks between the two coalitions, when MCA was eventually given two more seats – Bandar Hilir and Kota Laksamana – to contest.