The formation of Malaysia’s unity government once again ushered in the winds of change. A new co-partnership model must be adopted for Malaysia’s higher education institutions to allow tertiary education to thrive on academic excellence and free from political or administrative hurdles.

The 15th General Election (GE15) witnessed Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) emerging as the biggest winner after capturing 49 seats, the largest bloc by a single party in the parliament. An assessment on the rise of the Islamist party is necessary to measure how PAS’ success has changed Malaysia’s political landscape.