Malaysia's Najib Dissolves Parliament, Paving Way for Elections

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said he would dissolve Parliament, setting up an election that analysts say will be the closest in Malaysia's history.

The country's 13th general election pits Mr. Najib's United Malays National Organization—the core of the National Front coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957—against charismatic opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who says he is making his last bid for the premiership.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, here last month, announced Wednesday that he would dissolve Parliament, paving the way for elections within weeks.

In a live television broadcast Wednesday, Mr. Najib said the country's king has accepted his request to dissolve Parliament.

The date of the elections will be set later by the country's Election Commission, but is widely expected to come within a few weeks and will test whether UMNO's traditional political planks of race, religion and economic stewardship can overcome the opposition's pitch for a more open and transparent society in the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian country.

"There is a high degree of uncertainty on the election outcome as large section of youth will be voting for the first time," said Ibrahim Suffian, director at independent pollster Merdeka Center. Voters aged below 30 make up a quarter of the country's 13 million-strong electorate.

Analysts say that though chances of an opposition victory are slim, it may extend its 2008 electoral gains when it wrested 82 of 222 seats in Parliament, leaving the ruling front short of a two-thirds majority for the first time and won five of Malaysia's 13 states. Since the 2008 ballot, the opposition has edged up to 86 seats in Parliament through a series of special elections but lost control of one state.

Ceding more seats to the opposition could limit Mr. Najib's ambitions to liberalize the country's economy and propel it onto a faster growth path. A weaker mandate might spur a leadership challenge to Mr. Najib from within UMNO, analysts say, and hinder his efforts to push through unpopular reforms such as proposals to reduce costly subsidies on food and cooking fuel.

The opposition—consisting of the Islamic fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, Anwar's moderate People's Justice Party, and the Democratic Action Party that draws most of its support from the ethnic Chinese minority—has steadily gained support in the urban areas. Its pledges to unwind a decades-old race-based affirmative action policy designed to give a leg up to the majority ethnic-Malay population and reduce corruption have a strong appeal among mostly younger voters, analysts say.

In a February survey conducted by Merdeka Center, 46% of respondents said the government must tackle corruption. In the past, ministers have come under graft charges. The top corruption cases include continuing ones involving two former transport ministers, Chan Kong Choy and Ling Liong Sik, who were charged with cheating following cost overruns at a free-trade zone development, and Khir Toyo, the former chief minister of Selangor State. All three deny any wrongdoing.

The 64-year-old Mr. Anwar has said he would retire from politics if his opposition alliance fails to form the next government.

Since Mr. Najib came to power in 2009, he has made efforts to make governance more transparent.

Government contracts are now available online and companies that bid for projects are asked to sign integrity pacts. A Whistleblower Protection Act was passed in 2010 with cash incentives offered to civil servants for reporting corruptions that could lead to prosecution.