ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of political parties and coalitions in Malaysia in the context of existing political science theories with specific emphasis on features which are of interest from a comparative politics perspective. It explores the nature of political party competition is discussed by placing the ruling coalition and the opposition along various dimensions of political party competition–the ethnic, local and emerging 'democracy' dimensions. The chapter discusses the challenges of building and maintaining political coalitions are discussed including the incentives and strategies used to sustain the ruling coalition and the absence of similar incentives for many short-lived opposition coalitions. It presents an overview in terms of the structures of the major political parties and deals with regard to possible developments in the political landscape in the future pertaining to political parties and coalitions. The introduction of local elections may also introduce new parties and new dimensions of political competition, especially if a proportional representation electoral system is chosen.
