INTRODUCTION

Despite many predictions that Malaysian Indian voters would support Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th General Elections (GE-14), the election's outcome revealed that a large majority voted for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. This was unexpected for two reasons. First, in contrast to Malaysian Chinese voters, who were widely held to have swung towards the opposition in the 2008 General Elections, the Malaysian Indian vote was perceived to have remained solidly behind Barisan Nasional—albeit registering some protest in recent election cycles. Second, despite their long-standing socio-economic marginalization, the Najib Razak administration had spent significant resources on issues perceived as important for Malaysian Indians prior to GE-14.

Beyond BN being swept from power, the coalition's severe defeat in 2018 has called its race-based party structure into question. While BN's prime party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) lost a significant number of seats, its other Peninsula-based coalition partners were almost wiped from the electoral map. Like the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Gerakan, the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) performed poorly, losing the majority of its electoral contests with even senior party figures being resoundingly defeated.

The chapter will look at the changing political preferences of Malaysian Indian voters in recent years. In doing so, it will argue that GE-14 indicates a “permanent shift” in this community's voting patterns, from being a loyal supporter of MIC—and through it BN and its race-based formula of governance—to embracing multicultural politics under PH. The beginning of this “shift” in voting preference can be traced back to the 2008 General Elections. However, it deepened in the 2013 General Elections and was consolidated in GE-14.

In order to advance this argument, this chapter will draw on primary statistical and electoral data, secondary sources, as well as field work visits to three constituencies in April–May 2018. Following this introduction, the second section will set out the historical context of the Malaysian Indian community prior to GE-14. The third section will analyse GE-14 as it pertains to Malaysian Indians, through looking at: the number, background and deployment of Malaysian Indian candidates; and the strategies adopted by the two main coalitions to appeal to this voter group. The final section will focus on the outcome of GE-14 and its implications for the future