Marzuki Mohamad, a political scientist with International Islamic University Malaysia, said unlike before, these two elements were no longer the sole factor when it came to influencing a voter.

Citing a study by IIUM researchers earlier this year, he revealed that voters were also concerned about the rising prices of goods, the crime rate, the declining value of the ringgit and the GST.

Marzuki, who was Muhyiddin’s political secretary when the latter was the education minister, said the ruling coalition could no longer boast about their performance like they did in the 80s and 90s.

He said this was largely due to the recent controversies that plagued the administration as well as the country’s economy.

“The race and religion cards used to be played to counter the fact that they were not performing, and now it is no longer the sole factor in influencing voters.

“So BN is in a tricky situation,” he told reporters on the sidelines after presenting a talk at the Malaysia Freedom Summit earlier today.

Marzuki, however, said he believed both the BN and the opposition would continue to play the race and religion cards to attract voters from a certain “ethnic community”.

He also claimed that in the last general election, BN played up race and religion issues “to the maximum”.

“It was quite effective in the last election. Whether it will still be effective in the next remains to be seen.”