ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUES OF MALAY-ISLAMIC AND CONTEMPORARY IN THE ELECTION OF THE SEMENYIH STATE ASSEMBLY, SELANGORMALAYSIA

Election is a way of voting representatives in parliament as well as in the state assembly. During the election period, the election candidates highlight issues that may be able to influence the voters. The issues which are close to the heart of the voters will lead them either to vote the candidate or otherwise. The issues in the election are very important for the political parties to control and manipulate. Among others, the issues of Malay-Islamic, economic, 1MDB, and the sovereignty of kings are vital to be considered. This study attempts to answer two research questions, i.e. (i) what are the issues that attract the Malay voters‟ interest in the Semenyih state assembly? (ii) what is the real tendency in determining the choice of the Malay voters in the Semenyih state assembly? Both the quantitative and qualitative methods were applied in this study. The respondents were selected from the voters in the Semenyih state assembly. In the meanwhile, nine informants consisted of political leaders, speakers, political activists and voters were selected to supplement the quantitative data. Rational Choice Theory (RCT) was utilised to analyse the choices made by the voters. The findings revealed that the issue of rising cost of living was a dominant issue. Nevertheless, the issues associated with the sentiments of Malays and Islam also have had attracted attention. The Malay voters are inseparable by the Malay agenda in the national political planning. The Malay agenda should be prioritised by the political parties competing in the election should they want to get the attention of the Malay voters.