This may work in favour of Barisan Nasional (BN) in its bid to regain a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

Penang Institute’s Wong Chin Huat said it was therefore crucial for the private sector to make May 9 a day off for employees, including for those involved as polling and counting agents.

Wong said there were two main factors that would determine whether BN or Pakatan Harapan (PH) triumphs in the 14th General Election (GE14).

First is the percentage of support from the voters and second, the turnout.

“If the Malay tsunami is strong, (Prime Minister) Najib Razak may still lose despite a lower turnout,” he told FMT.

The Election Commission today announced that nomination day would be on Saturday, April 28, and polling day will be on Wednesday, May 9.

Wong admitted that it was hard to predict the percentage of shift in Malay support towards PH.

“But the voter turnout is what everyone can work on,” he said.

Wong had previously pointed out that three-cornered fights involving BN, PH and PAS in most of the 222 parliamentary seats could also further divide the Malay voters.

He added that although the redelineation exercise by the Election Commission did not guarantee a victory for BN, a poor turnout could also mean that many had chosen not to vote for change despite being angry with the ruling government.

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Analyst: Two-thirds victory for BN if voter turnout below 70%