Umno's comeback brings more flux to Malaysia's politics

"THIS is quite a game, politics," as they say. The convincing comeback of Malaysia's scandal-hit Barisan Nasional (BN) party into power, more recently in last week's Johor state election, further attests to that.

Low voter turnout notwithstanding, BN's resounding electoral victory in Malaysia's southern state follows the coalition's triumph at the ballot box in the Melaka state election last November.

Fresh from the win, the key players in BN's dominant component party United Malays National Organisation (Umno), namely its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and still-influential politician former Prime Minister Najib Razak, must be emboldened to push for an early election. Both men face a slew of graft charges while Najib has already been convicted in one case involving the money-laundering scandal of state-backed investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). They have claimed no wrongdoing.