The parliament in Malaysia has been dissolved and the gloves are off as political leaders gear up for a fight over corruption, discrimination and the cost of living.
Parliamentary polls will pit the National Front Coalition, which is in power since 1957, against a resurgent opposition.
The ruling group has already been knocked back, suffering its worst ever results in 2008 elections. And it will not be plain sailing this time either.
Malaysia is geographically split in two parts - there is a narrow peninsula in the western region and that is where the capital Kuala Lumpur is. And across the South China Sea is the eastern part, forming part of Borneo island.
Malaysia is also an ethnically diverse country. Ethnic Malays make up 60 percent of the population and they are the most dominant group in politics.
Ethnic Chinese form around one-quarter of the population and they hold a lot of the economic power. Ethnic Indians and indigenous peoples are among the poorest in Malaysia.
In the forthcoming elections, three million first time voters - nearly one-quarter of those eligible - will have to decide who to give their support to.
But who are the key political players?
Najib Razak is the current prime minister, and his National Front Coalition has been in power for more than 50 years. Najib himself took over in 2009, following a disastrous election for the coalition, which lost its two-thirds majority in parliament.
Najib will be highlighting Malaysia's strong economic growth under his stewardship as a reason for re-election.
"In the last four years, all Malaysians have experienced and witnessed a huge change in the economy, the politics and socially within our nation under the government's transformation programme, which has brought tremendous change to peoples' lives and prosperity to the country," he said.
"I urge all Malaysians and the parties to take note that if there is a change of power at federal or state level after the next election, [it] must be transferred peacefully and smoothly."
On the other side, Anwar Ibrahim is the leader of the opposition and a former deputy prime minister. He was fired from office in 1998 and tried for abuse of power and sodomy.
Anwar spent six years in jail but was eventually cleared of the charge. He was also acquitted of new allegations of sodomy last year - he has called all the charges politically motivated.
Anwar is pledging to tackle government authoritarianism and corruption. He is promising to cut taxes, increase subsidies and address complaints of discrimination against minority ethnic Chinese and Indians.
So is it time for change? And can the opposition leader shake off years of allegations and controversy?
To discuss this, Inside Story, with presenter Kamahl Santamaria, is joined by guests: Chandra Muzaffar, a Malaysian political scientist, Islamic reformist and activist; Kian Ming Ong, an election strategist for the opposition Democratic Action Party; and Zachary Abuza, a professor of political science at Simmons College, Boston, who also specialises in southeast Asian politics and security issues
Zachary Abuza
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/04/2013446582318256.html
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