For the 10-member ASEAN, including Indonesia, a politically stable and economically prosperous Malaysia will contribute to the progress of the regional grouping. Regardless of its competition with Indonesia in playing a primus inter pares role in ASEAN, Malaysia plays a constructive role that earns the country prominence in the region.

The election has been moved forward from its original schedule of September 2023 following the dissolution of Malaysia’s parliament by King Al-Sultan Abdullah upon the request of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Monday. The prime minister, who assumed power in August 2021, wanted an earlier election because his UMNO elites continue questioning his legitimacy. Many of them want to take over the PM seat from him, even if they know they cannot govern longer than Ismail.

UMNO hopes that the native Malays, who account for nearly 70 percent of the 32.7 million population, will grant an overwhelming victory to the party, using a fearmongering campaign of the rise of Chinese (22.8 percent) and Indian (6.6 percent) minority groups. In Malaysia, only Malays, who are automatically also Muslims, enjoy the privileges of first-class citizens. But as the proportion of Chinese and Indians combined is almost 30 percent and they play a dominant role in the economy, the Malays are always haunted by the minority “ghosts”.

"The people's mandate is a powerful antidote for the country to manifest political stability and create a strong, stable and respected government after the general election," said Ismail, who will be recorded in history as Malaysia’s shortest-serving prime minister.

UMNO and its coalition members ruled the country for 60 years consecutively until 2018 when voters punished them and awarded the mandate to the opposition, led by Mahathir and his former protégé and eternal foe, Anwar Ibrahim. When Mahathir became prime minister again, he promised to shortly hand over the post to Anwar, but it never materialized.

UMNO president Zahid justified an early election, saying the party "had been maligned by court cases leveled against its top leaders" and that it would be stuck in an endless cycle of selective prosecution if it did not win big in the upcoming election, local media reported. He is facing 47 graft charges and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoings.

Mahathir has declared his intention to maintain his parliamentary seat from his Pakatan Harapan Party and implied that he would also try to win the PM seat for the third time, despite his age. He insisted on moving forward, saying he wanted to prevent the return of the corrupt UMNO to power.

“If they win this election, their first move would be to ask [Malaysia’s king] to pardon Najib. At this moment, they have made a request but have not been pardoned,” Mahathir said as quoted by Malaysian media. “Should they be able to win and form the government that is their first objective, not about the welfare of the people?”

Malaysia may emulate Australia, which has seen a change of guard too often. Toppled Australian PM Tony Abbott described this phenomenon a few years ago as “changing clothes”.

Ismail is Malaysia’s third prime minister since 2018, after Mahathir and Muhyiddin Yassin. But despite his brief ruling, Ismail has recorded substantial achievements, especially in foreign policy.

Ismail’s unwavering support for the ASEAN campaign against Myanmar’s junta leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing is very important in unifying the regional grouping vis-à-vis interferences of major powers. Last year he proposed that Malay become the official language of ASEAN, but other member states, especially Indonesia, opposed it.

Indonesia experienced such rapid change of national leadership in the aftermath of Soeharto’s fall from grace in May 1998. The country saw three presidents between 1998 and 2001: B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The ruling UMNO and its coalition are widely tipped to win the Malaysian elections. Opposition leader Mahathir meanwhile expects to repeat his unexpected victory in the 2018 election. A win will earn him the mandate for the third time.

When Mahathir became the prime minister for the second time in 2018, the Malaysian people and even the world celebrated his return to power. He previously had served as a prime minister for 21 years.

But even a victory for UMNO will not lead Malaysia to the much-awaited political reforms. Transactional politics and horse-trading practices will continue to mark the elite dynamics.

Malaysia is one of the most amazing members of ASEAN for me, especially for its incredible achievements in attracting highly sophisticated technology investment, its educational and health sector development and its robust agricultural sector, especially its oil palm plantation industry. Millions of Indonesian migrant workers are employed in the plantations in Malaysia.

For decades, prosperous Malaysia has become the destination of millions of Indonesian job seekers, including less-educated women who work as domestic helpers.

We can only hope that the Malaysian people will cast their ballots for the best of the nation rather than for the sake of the supremacy of the Malays. ASEAN always needs a democratic and progressive Malaysia.

The election is not just about finding a rescue for corrupt Najib or allowing Mahathir to satisfy his endless hunger for power.

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The writer is a senior editor at The Jakarta Post.