The southern state, which borders Singapore and sits at the centre of Malaysia’s cross-border growth plans, is also a stronghold for the United Malays National Organisation.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that Umno leads holds 40 of the state’s 56 seats after a landslide victory in 2022. Yet this time the terrain is less certain. BN is battling Pakatan Harapan (PH) in every seat despite sharing power with it in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s federal unity government, while Perikatan Nasional (PN) is contesting just 33.

Into that ambiguity has stepped Mahathir, still shaping the national conversation aged 100. In an open letter, he urged Malays to back Malay candidates regardless of party or affiliation.

“If we want this country to remain Tanah Melayu, vote for Malay candidates without loyalty to any party or NGO faction,” Mahathir wrote in the letter published on social media on Tuesday, using the Malay term historically associated with the Malay peninsula.