Malaysia’s Melaka poll shows ethnic lines firming. Can Anwar turn Malay nationalist tide?

Identity politics could very well decide the outcome of Malaysia’s next national election, experts say, after parties and voters dug in their heels along ethnic lines in recent polls that have undermined Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s multicultural ruling coalition. On Saturday, Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) suffered its third straight electoral defeat this year in Melaka state as the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and its new partner, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal opposition...