UMNO – PAS electoral competition from the centre to the periphery: a case study of Terengganu politics in the 14th general election / Nur Adilah Shahirah Shafie

This study explores the electoral competition between two of the oldest and most prominent Malay-Muslim political parties, UMNO and PAS, in the 2018 General Election (GE 2018) in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. This thesis was designed in response to the occurrence of electoral uncertainty and intense confrontations between UMNO and PAS, in GE 2018. It aims to identify the factors that led to the perpetuation of Malay-Muslim electoral contestation, assessment of the electoral issues and strategies mobilized by both parties, and examination of the outcome for both parties in the 2018 General Election. This study argues that the competition between UMNO and PAS is justifiable and inevitable based on the inter-party competition framework. The information utilized in this research consisted of primary and secondary sources. The primary source involved interviews with political party officials and grassroots, political scientists, and academicians, as well as voters in Terengganu. The secondary source comprised books, theses, articles, and journals on the subject matter. Accordingly, the data was subject to a qualitative analysis. The data findings indicated that ideological differences and certain historical events influence Malay-Muslim political competition, the sharp-departure in political strategies, and the impact on the development of political competition between Malay-Muslim parties. This research provides crucial findings that could contribute to the emergence of Malay-Muslim political cooperation between UMNO and PAS.