Malaysia's March 8 election is likely to shape the course of economic and social policy over the next five years, even if it doesn't deliver a new government.
The ruling coalition has governed in various forms since independence in 1957, telling voters it is the only group that represents all major races and can keep the peace between them.
The Barisan Nasional coalition portrays opposition parties are racially divided and a threat to stability, but even the opposition admits it is too weak to challenge for power.
Instead, elections boil down to a battle over public policy and reputations, but there can still be a surprising number of political casualties.
Here are some possible scenarios.
THE PM'S WORST NIGHTMARE
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wakes up on the morning after the vote to discover that he is still in office but he has failed to secure a two-thirds majority in federal parliament, the first time the coalition has failed to do this since 1969.
Worse, he has lost Terengganu, the biggest oil producing state, to the opposition Islamist party, PAS, which also held onto neighbouring Kelantan state despite a concerted coalition campaign to win it back.
This is as bad as it could conceivably get for the coalition, and Abdullah's leadership would be under threat. The main ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), might then turn to his deputy and leader-in-waiting, Najib Razak.
The coalition would have to lose more than 50 seats for this to come true, but political analysts believe this is more an opposition fantasy than something Abdullah really fears.
Even in the 1999 elections, which followed a far more turbulent chapter in Malaysian politics, the coalition still managed to hold on to a two-thirds majority. It lost Terengganu state that year, but reclaimed it in the 2004 landslide.
Though Abdullah's approval rating has sunk to a personal low, it remains around 60 percent, according to a recent poll, and the economy is still a relatively strong selling point.
The electorate is unhappy over rising prices, racial tensions and street crime, but overall the economy is holding up well despite a U.S. slowdown, creating jobs.
OPPOSITION, ISLAMISTS LOSE GROUND
