Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Monday likely gained ground ahead of national elections next year when the Court of Appeal ruled that the Election Commission can go ahead with a controversial redrawing of voting boundaries. Malaysia’s fourteenth general elections are looming. This time, almost unprecedentedly, they will see the two great Malay political parties — the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) — working implicitly as allies, not rivals, writes Clive Kessler for East Asia Forum. Barisan Nasional coalition, of which UMNO is a member, has taken the tactic of exploiting ethnic differences to new heights under Najib, according to Bridget Welsh, a visiting professor of political science at John Cabot University.