Malaysian general elections begin

This year's election saw the participation of three parties - the National Front coalition, the opposition Alliance of Hope and the Pan Malaysian Islamic party (PAS). These parties will be competing for 222 parliamentary seats to win the right to form a government.

Pre-election surveys show that many voters have not yet made their final choice. One of the reasons is that there are no new faces on the list of candidates, apart from former Prime Minister Najib Razak and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.