<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Malaysia will head to the polls on November 19, officials said Thursday, after the prime minister called for a snap election to restore political stability.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament earlier this month and called for the vote a year ahead of schedule to shore up his slim majority in the 222-member legislature.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The "election date is November 19", Election Commission chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said at a press conference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nomination day for candidates will be on November 5, with 97-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad among those expected to join the fray.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ismail's UMNO, the dominant party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, will contest the polls head-on with its bitter rival Pakatan Harapan alliance led by veteran opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Others in the fray include a host of Malay-based parties, including Pejuang which is led by Mahathir, who has said he will be available to become prime minister for the third time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ismail is the third prime minister Malaysia has had in four years, underscoring the political instability that followed the last general elections in 2018.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">UMNO -- which ruled the country for over 60 years -- had suffered a shock defeat amid allegations of massive corruption linked to state fund 1MDB.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then-prime minister Najib Razak, embroiled in the scandal involving billions of dollars allegedly pilfered from the sovereign wealth fund, was ousted, charged with corruption and convicted after a lengthy trial.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In August, he started serving a 12-year jail sentence for the initial batch of charges, although he faces dozens more that could keep him in prison longer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- Will Najib be freed? -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This is a crucial election because they are electing a government that will bring Malaysia out of the pandemic and back to normality," said James Chin, a Malaysia expert at the University of Tasmania.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">UMNO, which returned to power last year due to political infighting in the previous governments, expects to win big and cement its rule.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But while it has the political machinery, the party remains tainted with the 1MDB corruption scandal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are fears that if the party comes to power, Najib could be freed and efforts to pursue corruption charges against other party members will slacken.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among those facing charges is UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"If UMNO wins, there are concerns that the rule of law will not be honored in Najib's conviction," Bridget Welsh of the University of Nottingham Malaysia said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Voters will be deciding effectively whether Najib and UMNO party president Zahid will not face punishment for the criminal charges they face."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 1MDB scandal triggered investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, whose financial systems were believed to have been used to launder the money, and battered Malaysia's global image.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates and spent on everything from high-end real estate to pricey art.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The economy and the rising cost of living will be key election issues with inflation soaring and the local ringgit currency tumbling.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are also concerns with the polls being held in the monsoon season, which usually brings widespread floods. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>