Jepun VS Malaysia: Strategi Kempen Pilihan Rayaumum 2017 dan 2018 (Japan VS Malaysia: General Election Campaign Strategy 2017 and 2018)

Abstract

This article is to compare the use of strategy in general election campaigns in Japan and Malaysia in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The strategy is divided into the use of campaign issue and technique in the elections. The two biggest coalition parties in Malaysia namely Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan and two Japanese largest political parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party were chosen as the case studies. Content analysis methods have been used to generate data through several sources such as mass media reports, interviews and status uploaded in the official political party’s social media. In terms of the use of issue, both Malaysian and Japanese political parties used mixed positive and negative issues in the election campaign. Hence the exploitation of the weaknesses of the respective opponent party was the key strategy for success. While showing the strength of the parties were the strategy to attract voters as well as to prove their credibility. In terms of campaign techniques, traditional methods were still in use while using the latest technology in social media became significantly important. However, due to the restrictions, some of the campaign techniques conducted in Malaysia cannot be used in Japan such as house-to-house campaign.