Malaysian general election, 2008
Encyclopedia
The 12th Malaysian general election was held on March 8, 2008, in accordance with Malaysian laws for national elections
, which states that a general election must be held no later than five years subsequent to the previous elections; the previous general election was held in 2004
. Malaysia's Parliament
was dissolved
on February 13, 2008, and the following day, the Election Commission announced nominations would be held on February 24, with general polling
set for March 8. State assemblies
of all states other than Sarawak
were also dissolved and their elections took place at the same time.
Political parties were reported to have begun preparations for the polls as early as January 2008. As in 2004, the incumbent National Front coalition, the ruling political alliance since independence, as well as opposition parties
represented primarily by Democratic Action Party
(DAP), the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), and Parti Keadilan Rakyat
(PKR) contested the election.
As with all preceding general elections following independence, the parliamentary election was won by BN, but yielded one of the worst results in the coalition's history. Opposition parties had won 82 seats (out of 222 seats in parliament) or 36.9% of parliamentary seats, while BN only managing to secure the remaining 140 seats or 63.1%. It marked also the first time since the 1969 election
that the coalition did not win a two-thirds supermajority in the Malaysian Parliament required to pass amendments to the Malaysian Constitution
. In addition, 5 of 13 state legislatures were won by the opposition, compared with only one in the last election.
was dissolved
on February 13, 2008 by Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
with consent of the Agong
, from which a general election will be required to be held within the 60 days, between February 13, 2008 and April 13, 2008. The announcement of the dissolution was done a day after the Prime Minister publicly denied that Parliament would be dissolved on February 13.
on February 7 and during the week-long school holidays from March 7 to 16, as schools will be available for use as polling station
s. Political analysts saw a March election as an attempt by the Prime Minister to garner a fresh mandate
before a slowdown in the global and Malaysian economies, and in an effort to bar Anwar Ibrahim
from contesting, as he is permitted to re-enter politics on April 14, 2008.
On February 14, the Election Commission announced nominations would be held on February 24, with general election
set for March 8. This will allow for 13 days of campaigning to take place. Anwar Ibrahim subsequently criticised the Prime Minister on the choice of date, calling the move a "dirty trick" and a sign of "Prime Minister Abdullah [...] getting personal." There were expectations that a Member of Parliament from Anwar's party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat
, would resign after that date to pave the way for a by-election
which Anwar could contest to attempt a comeback in Parliament. At the time these claims were unsubstantiated, however, the expectations were fulfilled when Anwar's wife vacated her seat.
The Merdeka Centre ran a survey in 2008 to gauge public sentiment and the result was published soon after. There was a series of issues raised by all sides in the run up to the election. Among the issues are inflation, shortage of goods, fuel subsidies, rising crime, majority government, mismanagement, corruption, the demand for free and fair elections by a group of NGOs and political parties under the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH)
, racial equality especially as highlighted by HINDRAF
, Internal Security Act
detainees, the case surrounding the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip
and the eligibility of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
.
Anger among ethnic Indians regarding issues such as restrictions on jobs, education, freedom of religion, right and a widespread feeling of loss of dignity have played a part during the 2008 parliamentary elections in Malaysia. One of the other main issues brought up has been whether the election would be conducted fairly. The opposition has pointed out these issues are gerrymandering of electoral districts, uneven media access, outdated electoral systems, election fraud and vote buying.
Besides, it was also alleged that the anti-Khairy Jamaluddin
sentiment became another main factor of the National Front's heavy losses, as stated by Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad
. Khairy Jamaluddin is the son-in-law of the current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
and was alleged of influencing the Prime Minister when making critical decisions.
for Sarawak was held on May 20, 2006.
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's ruling United Malays National Organisation
(UMNO) party and their National Front partners ran a younger crop of candidates with fewer ties to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the architect of the country's affirmative-action policies in the election. Abdullah said he needed "one or two more terms" to successfully complete various economic projects he has started.
The government wished to retake the mandate of the opposition state of Kelantan
from PAS, promising the Kelantanese people major development projects and jobs. Awang Adek Hussin, a deputy minister heading UMNO's campaign in Kelantan said that if voted in they would repair or build 500 mosque
s, including a Grand Mosque, in order to woo Muslim voters.
In Sabah
, chief minister and Sabah BN chairman Musa Aman
announced that the same formula used in the 2004 election would be used in this election with regards to the allocation of seats among BN's component parties of Sabah. Sabah BN has used the same allocation formula for both the parliamentary election as well as for the state election
. In this election, UMNO will contest in 13 parliamentary seats, Parti Bersatu Sabah
(PBS) will contest in four, United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation
(UPKO) in four, Sabah Progressive Party
(SAPP) in two, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah
(PBRS) in one, and the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) in one.
BN coalition rolled out a major publicity campaign with a slogan promising "security, peace, prosperity" in advertisements that featured prominently in newspapers and on television.
(PKR), Democratic Action Party
(DAP) and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) planned to deny the ruling coalition a two-thirds majority in Parliament in a bid to loosen the government's five-decade grip on power as reflected by their manifestos. The three parties highlighted Malaysia's rising crime rate, consumer-price inflation and government corruption throughout the election campaign. Civil Society groups unofficially merged five opposition parties under a banner called the Barisan Rakyat (People's Front) in which they agreed on certain policy matters, particularly two civil society documents: The People's Declaration, and The People's Voice; and agreed not to contest against each other in any seats. The five parties include DAP, PKR and PAS, as well as Parti Sosialis Malaysia
(PSM) and the United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation
(PASOK).
Part of the opposition campaign took place in cyberspace
and new media, utilising new technologies such as blog
s, SMS
and YouTube
. Currently, major newspapers and television stations, which are partly owned by parties in the government coalition, only mention the opposition in passing. On March 2, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang challenged Abdullah Badawi to hold a televised debate
similar to those held by U.S. presidential candidates
. However, government leaders stated there was no place for such debates in Malaysia, claiming the focus should be on debating with locals concerning local issues affecting them.
The Opposition had also increased focus on Abdullah Badawi's performance in the last few years and being a poor leader who sleeps on the job. They mentioned that as a result of his weak leadership, matters such as crime, corruption and racial and religious tensions have increased. On March 4, campaigning in Malaysia's general election took on a personal tone as rivals slung accusations of nepotism, hypocrisy, boorish language and sexist tactics. It was also suggested Abdullah is grooming his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin
, as Malaysia's future leader.
In terms of raising funds, the Opposition appealed to the public through websites and blogs for supporters to contribute funds through credit cards and bank transfers to help them print campaign posters and hold public forums. The Opposition had repeatedly pointed out that they are unable to match the ruling coalition's massive spending power.
, vote fraud
, compliant media, misuse of government resources and massive vote buying
gave the National Front or Barisan Nasional
an unfair advantage. It had been highlighted to the Election Commission of Malaysia that its electoral roll has been suspect, because of the discovery that it contains nearly 9,000 people aged more than 100. This raised suspicions that the books are contaminated with dead voters
which leaves the election vulnerable to fraud.
Further discoveries of people who have been born in the same year possessing different identity cards (IC) and living in many different localities, were uncovered by Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel). These people are registered to vote in various places throughout the country. These issues led to questions regarding the fairness of the elections.
It was also highlighted by the Opposition that certain postal voters were issued with two ballot sheets. This was discovered during checks with the Election Commission when they were preparing postal voting kits. Activists from BERSIH say each ballot was also attached to a letter identifying the voter along with the voting slip serial number, so it would be easy to trace who voted for the opposition. Electoral reform activists said that a number of seats that the opposition could win could be decided by postal votes and that those casting postal votes do not have the freedom to choose the candidate they want.
Human Rights Watch
, which had been monitoring the election process, stated that government restraints on expression, assembly and access to state media would deny Malaysians a fair vote. Calling the electoral process "grossly unfair", Human Rights Watch called on the government to address concerns with fraud in the electoral rolls, and to provide opposition parties access to state media. De facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz accused Human Rights Watch of bias, saying they were attempting to discredit the electoral process because "they know the National Front will win".
On March 17, a week after the release of election results and one-third win by opposition parties, BERSIH claimed the Opposition would have obtained a parliamentary majority if not for fraud. Sivarasa Rasiah
, BERSIH spokesperson and newly-elected PKR MP for Subang, stated:
Citing 72,058 unreturned ballot papers — of which 41,564 were for parliamentary seats and 30,494 for state assembly seats — BERSIH alleged that many of these ballots had in reality been cast for the opposition or spoilt but were discarded, further pointing to the fact that most of them were postal ballots. BERSIH spokespeople did not rule out further street demonstrations.
Early reaction to the proposal was mixed. Both DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng
and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
welcomed the move, with Abdul Hadi's party voicing interest in the type of ink used. PKR vice-president Tian Chua
initially remained skeptical unless the EC "implemented the system". Members of BN were more critical, with UMNO secretary-general Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad
, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan
and Gerakan vice-president Teng Hock Nan proposing the use of other systems, such as a fingerprint-based biometrics
system, as alternatives. An additional comment by BN against the use of the indelible ink was the lack of assurance the ink used will contain safe or halal
ingredients, taking into account Muslim voters. On August 9, the National Fatwa Council declared the ink safe for use, after receiving a lab report from the Chemistry Department of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
.
On March 4, 2008, four days before polling, the Commission announced it was canceling the plan, citing concerns about the constitutionality of the measure — without a constitutional amendment permitting the practice, it could be illegal for a polling clerk to stop a voter from voting even if his or her finger was already marked with indelible ink. The Commission chair also claimed intelligence concerning possible conspiracies to undermine the electoral process by applying ink to the fingers of those who had not yet voted, and said it would be best to refrain from adopting the measure for the sake of public order and security. According to the Election Commission, the decision to cancel the use of indelible ink was based on reports that certain parties tried to "sabotage" the election process in Kedah
, Kelantan
and Perlis
. The police has arrested several persons that tried to smuggle the ink through neighboring Thailand
.
Opposition parties widely condemned the move. PKR Deputy President Syed Husin Ali alleged that the Commission was "colluding with BN to allow cheating in the coming general elections," and claimed that this was proof the government felt the Opposition would perform well on polling day. Dzulkifli Ahmad, a PAS and BERSIH leader, said that both organisations opposed the move, and that "We want to make it clear that we are entering this election under protest". Dzulkifli added that BERSIH would file a complaint after polling day. Lim Guan Eng declared that the decision would only benefit the ruling coalition, and demanded an explanation for the claim of adverse effects on public security: "It is ridiculous that the use of indelible ink can put the whole country into chaos and ruination." Lim condemned the waste incurred over RM
2 million having been spent purchasing 47,000 bottles of indelible ink from India, as of February 23, and said that the DAP would be investigating legal avenues to reverse the decision.
Response from the ruling coalition was mixed. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
, an UMNO leader, found the reversal "appropriate", citing concerns that people would be misled into applying similar-looking ink to their fingers, denying them the right to vote. In a statement, MCA described the measure as "disappointing", saying the late announcement meant opposition parties would unnecessarily politicise the situation.
In response, several leaders of the Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel), including Mafrel chair Abdul Malek Hussin and deputy chair Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, have refused to accept EC accrediting as official observers, saying they refused to legitimise the decision. Officially, they said, any EC-accredited Mafrel member could observe the polling process, and they would themselves carry out all other duties as observers, except those requiring EC accreditation such as observing the polling process from within polling stations. Abdul Malek added that Mafrel strongly protested the decision as contrary to its own recommendations, and compared the measure to withdrawing all currency from circulation because of the presence of counterfeit notes. He further questioned the legal reasoning behind the decision, arguing that as Parliament had speedily passed a constitutional amendment to extend the tenure of the EC chairperson, any necessary constitutional amendments could have been introduced and passed well in advance.
After the election, Anwar Ibrahim claimed that the failure to use indelible ink had cost the PKR-DAP-PAS coalition 15 seats in Parliament, adding that "It is not unrealistic to imagine that we could actually have won a majority right then." Two weeks after the polls, several NGOs including the Malaysian Voters Union asked the Attorney-General to officially charge four men who they alleged had been arrested for involvement in the supposed conspiracy. As of March 24, 2008, the men had not been remand
ed by a court, nor charged with a crime; their arrest was not publicised.
In May, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar
told Parliament in his written response to a question from Fong Po Kuan
that "there was no evidence at all to show the ink was smuggled in from Thailand... From the witness statements, no individual, syndicate or any particular party was identified to be involved in this (ink smuggling). The complainant and witness' statement were based on hearsay and no individual was identified positively."
Unused, the ink remained in storage until November 25, 2009, when it was burnt in accordance to government procedures. Prior to disposal, the ink was to be sold, but had passed its expiry date.
As polls opened in Malaysia on March 8 from 8am to 5pm, voters cast ballots for 222 parliamentary seats and 12 state legislatures, with voter turnout
among Malaysia's 10.9 million eligible voters estimated to be 70 percent. Barisan Nasional won 91 percent of parliamentary seats in 2004 election, but its majority is expected to be clipped this time as it suffers a backlash from ethnic Chinese and Indians. Early vote counting showed the Barisan Nasional was already faring badly in early tallies across the country with the exception of Sabah, Sarawak and Johor, as claimed by Kelantan United Malays National Organisation
(UMNO) state chief Annuar Musa. The opposition began claiming using their own estimates that they have denied the government its two-thirds majority in parliament.
Barisan Nasional was able to return to power and form the next government, with a simple majority but without the crucial two-thirds majority in parliament. It is BN's worst performance in Malaysia's general election since independence in 1957, winning only 63.5% (140 out of 222) of parliamentary seats that were contested; the only other time the 14-party coalition failed to win a two-thirds majority was in 1969 when it secured 66% of the seats. Component parties in BN, including the Malaysian Chinese Association
(MCA), Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), and Gerakan
, saw its number of state and federal seats severely reduced by half or more. UMNO also saw its number reduce significantly but not by as much as half. Also noted were MIC president S. Samy Vellu, Gerakan acting president Koh Tsu Koon
and PPP
president M. Kayveas
, who were trounced in their respective election contests.
The results of several states have been rather surprising to everybody involved. Many of the states BN have lost are those on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia
where it has traditionally focused most of its attention to. These states experienced more development and investment than other states, and account for much of the country's population. The remaining states that have given BN its simple majority are states that are economically weaker than what the opposition have gained.
On February 26, 2008, independent contender Junak Jawek dropped out of the polls for the new Parliamentary seat of Igan. Wahab Dolah of BN was declared the winner. This brings the total number of uncontested wins by National Front to ten seats as of February 27, 2008: eight parliamentary and two state seats.
Some PKR candidates have alleged fraud, claiming they received offers from BN not to contest. Rahamat Idil Latip, the PKR candidate for the Parliamentary seat of Santubong, claimed he was told he would receive RM300,000 if he withdrew his nomination. After jokingly asking for RM3 million, he was told that it would be considered.
(Sabah), which was won by Joseph Kurup
of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah
(PBRS). The two candidates who were supposed to contest in this seat were Danny Anthony Andipai (PKR
) and Saineh (independent). Both were disqualified after submitting their nomination forms after 10:00 am.
It was alleged by both rejected candidates that they were blocked from going to the nomination centre, resulting in both candidates submitting their candidacies late, at 10:25 am and 10:30 am, respectively. During the one-hour objection period from 11:00 am, Kurup raised objections to the late submissions and they were accepted by the returning officer; he then disqualified the two candidates from contesting. Police reports were later lodged on the matter in Keningau
. Joseph Kurup, on the other hand, claimed he was punched after being declared winner of the seat; he also lodged a police report on this matter.
On September 8, 2008, Kota Kinabalu High Court judge Justice David Wong Dak Wah declared that the Pensiangan parliamentary seat which was won uncontested by Kurup invalid and Kurup's seat be left vacant, paving the way for a possible by-election for this constituency. Recent amendments to the election laws, however, allow Kurup to appeal the decision at the Federal Court. The petition was filed by Andipai, and had named Kurup, returning officer Bubudan OT Majalu, and the Election Commission as respondents.
On March 13, 2009, The Federal Court in Kota Kinabalu overturned an Election Court decision on Sept 8 to strip Pensiangan MP Joseph Kurup of the seat and declare it vacant.Federal Court Judge Nik Hashim Nik Abdul Rahman who delivered the verdict held that Kurup was duly elected to the parliamentary constituency of P182 Pensiangan.
Nik Hashim held that there had not been any failure on the part of the Returning Officer (RO) to comply with the election laws.
The opposition dealt a heavy blow to the Barisan Nasional government by taking the state of Penang
. Although Penang was regarded as a hotly contested state, the outcome unexpectedly turned out to be a landslide win with the opposition, the Democratic Action Party
(DAP) gaining the majority of the state seats. Many seats saw the opposition winning over two-thirds of the votes, rather than the usual 50-50 distribution. BN only won 2 of the 13 parliamentary seats and 11 of the 40 state seats, its worst performance in Malaysian history.
In terms of party landscape, Gerakan, which has led the state since 1969 was defeated, and essentially wiped out of the political landscape, winning only 3 state seats and 2 parliamentary seats (none of which were in this state), not being able to hold on to a single seat in state or federal level—over 30 years of rule gone in one night. Some interesting individual constituencies include Jeff Ooi
, who rose to fame with his blog that was constantly critical of the ruling government and made his first foray into politics this election under the DAP, winning the Jelutong parliamentary seat.
Another significant blow was the defeat of Gerakan Acting President, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon
, who was looking to move up from state politics, decided not to run for his state seat and subsequently gave up his Chief Minister post of 18 years, to challenge the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat. Some speculated this was part of a larger ambition to be a cabinet member, only to lose to newcomer P. Ramasamy of the DAP by a large margin of 9,485 votes.
, which along with Penang, has traditionally produced a substantial bulk of past and present BN leaders (including Tunku Abdul Rahman
, and Mahathir Mohamad), also overwhelmingly rose to the call of the opposition. BN only won 4 of the 15 parliamentary seats but did better by winning 14 out of 36 state seats, while the Opposition took the remaining 22 of the 36 state seats, with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) winning 16, Parti Keadilan Rakyat
(PKR) four and the DAP and an independent, one each.
, despite a vigorous campaign by the ruling Barisan Nasional, winning 38 of the 45 state assembly seats along with PKR (which has won one seat). It was a personal setback for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who had promised millions of dollars in development aid, intending to boost the chances of the Barisan Nasional coalition. The win marks the fifth consecutive time PAS retains power in Kelantan since 1990
and surpasses PAS' previous record of continuous electoral wins in Kelantan—four between 1959
to 1978
.
, Barisan Nasional party leaders were blindsided when Selangor
rose to the call of the opposition. Many thought it was a safe stronghold of BN loyalists as it has been all along a centralist state leaning towards BN. According to The Star
s summary of the state: "Barisan will undoubtedly retain the state but look out for some interesting, even tough, fights in certain parliamentary and state seats where the Opposition is fielding some strong candidates". Far from being the truth, BN ended up with only 5 of the 22 parliamentary seats and 20 of the 56 state seats, leaving the state government in opposition hands. The state Bernama
news agency said that opposition parties had claimed 35 of the 56 seats in the Selangor state legislature but did not give a breakdown between PAS and the other parties.
, the Barisan Nasional suffered shock losses, including MIC president S. Samy Vellu's Sungai Siput
seat and PPP president M. Kayveas
's Taiping
seat. UMNO suffered several major setbacks in the party's traditional strongholds, while most MCA, MIC, PPP and Gerakan candidates were defeated by DAP candidates.
Perak was nonetheless one of the most tightly contested state of the nation with BN-Opposition parliamentary seats split into 13-11 and state seats into 28-31, still giving the opposition the chance to decide the state's government.
is a federal territory divided into 11 parliamentary constituencies. In this election, the opposition won ten seats (five are held by DAP, four by PKR, and one by PAS), while Barisan Nasional won only one. In the previous election, BN held 7 seats while DAP held 4 seats.
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidates
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% of vote
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% of seats
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|+/–
|-
|align=left| Perlis
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
(Barisan Nasional, BN) || 15 || 58,459 || 61.50 || 14 || 93.33 ||
|-
|align=left|United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO) || 13 || 51,346 || 54.02 || 12 || 93.33 ||
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Chinese Association
(Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA) || 2 || 7,113 || 7.48 || 2 || 93.3 ||
|-
|align=left|Opposition Parties, including People's Alliance
(Pakatan Rakyat) coalition: || 15 || 35,007 || 36.83 || 1 || 6.67 ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || 12 || 29,698 || 31.24 || 1 || 6.67 ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || 3 || 5,309 || 5.59 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || 1 || 1,585 || 1.7 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || 31 || 95,051 || 100.00 || 15 || 100.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Kedah
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
(Barisan Nasional, BN) || 36 || 322,358 || 47.40 || 14 || 38.89 || 17
|-
|align=left|United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO) || 28 || 259,940 || 38.22 || 12 || 33.33 || 11
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Chinese Association
(Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA) || 4 || 31,674 || 4.66 || 1 || 2.78 || 3
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Indian Congress (Kongres India Se-Malaysia, MIC) || 2 || 18,376 || 2.70 || 0 || 0.00 || 2
|-
|align=left|Malaysian People's Movement Party (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, Gerakan) || 2 || 12,368 || 1.82 || 1 || 2.78 || 1
|-
|align=left|Opposition Parties, including People's Alliance
(Pakatan Rakyat) coalition: || 36 || 342,761 || 50.40 || 21 || 58.33 || 16
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (Parti Tindakan Demokratik, DAP) || 2 || 7,510 || 1.10 || 1 || 2.78 || 1
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || 24 || 250,028 || 36.76 || 16 || 44.44 || 11
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || 10 || 85,223 || 12.53 || 4 || 11.11 || 4
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || 4 || 14,990 || 2.20 || 1 || 2.78 || 1
|-
|align=left| Overall total || 76 || 680,109 || 100.00 || 36 || 100.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Kelantan
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
(Barisan Nasional, BN) || 44 || 269,501 || 45.12 || 6 || 13.33 || 15
|-
|align=left|United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO) || 43 || 252,840 || 42.33 || 6 || 13.33 || 15
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Chinese Association
(Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA) || 1 || 7,661 || 1.28 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left|Opposition Parties, including People's Alliance
(Pakatan Rakyat) coalition: || 45 || 336,610 || 56.36 || 39 || 86.67 || 15
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || 40 || 313,575 || 52.50 || 38 || 84.44 || 14
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || 5 || 23,035 || 3.86 || 1 || 2.22 || 1
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || 1 || 147 || 0.02 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || 90 || 597,258 || 100.00 || 45 || 100.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Terengganu
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 24 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 8 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 32 || ||
|-
|align=left| Penang
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 11 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 19 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 9 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 40 || ||
|-
|align=left| Perak
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 28 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 18 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 6 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 7 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 59 || ||
|-
|align=left| Pahang
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 37 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 2 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 2 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 42 || ||
|-
|align=left| Selangor
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 20 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 13 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 8 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 15 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 56 || ||
|-
|align=left| Negri Sembilan || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 21 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 10 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 4 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 36 || ||
|-
|align=left| Malacca
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 23 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 5 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 28 || ||
|-
|align=left| Johor
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 50 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 4 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 2 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 56 || ||
|-
|align=left| Sabah
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
|| || || 59 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 60 || ||
|-
|align=left colspan=6|Source: The Star
, Kuala Lumpur
|}
, in the northern state of Terengganu
, where 300 supporters of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) stopped several buses and cars they suspected carrying fraudulent voters ferried in by the coalition and confiscating Malaysian identity card
s of the voters. When the police arrived to bring order, the PAS supporters were reported to have beaten up the police and destroyed police vehicles, including several Federal Reserve Unit (Malaysian riot police
) vehicles. A helicopter from the Royal Malaysian Army had to be called in. To break up the rioters, police fired tear gas, and the son of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
was among those arrested. The offending voters were mostly university students and young professionals from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore who were provided free buses by Barisan Nasional
to go back to Kelantan and Terengganu to vote in their favour.
The decision to pull out was made at the SAPP supreme council meeting where its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee obtained the support of nearly all of its 35 members and declared that SAPP was not joining Pakatan Rakyat.
Yong said his party would remain independent in the opposition bench until a time came when SAPP was ready to be back in government.
In Penang, the Democratic Action Party
(DAP) formed the next state government with Lim Guan Eng
, who is also the party's Secretary General, as its designated next Chief Minister. Two days later, the new Chief Minister appointed two Deputy Chief Ministers, Penanti assemblyman Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin of PKR and Prai assemblyman P. Ramasamy of DAP. P. Ramasamy became the first ethnic Indian to be appointed as deputy chief minister in a Malaysian state.
The coalition consisting of mainly Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) formed the next state government in Kedah, after winning 22 out of 36 seats. Out of the 22 seats, 16 were won by PAS, 4 by PKR, and 1 each by DAP and an independent candidate. Kedah's state PAS commissioner, Azizan Abdul Razak
, has been sworn in as the ninth Kedah Menteri Besar
. The sole independent candidate who won, V. Arumugam, was chosen to be one of the 10 state executive councillors for the state.
In Kelantan, Nik Aziz Nik Mat received his letter of appointment as Kelantan Menteri Besar on the night of March 11 for the fifth consecutive term from the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Ismail Petra
. Three state assemblymen, including Wan Ubaidah Wan Omar (Kijang), Dr Fazli Hassan (Temangan) and Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (Wakaf Baru), were also appointed as state executive councillors.
The next designated Menteri Besar of Selangor was speculated to be PKR's Khalid Ibrahim. However, Khalid failed to get the consent from the Sultan, who stated he would like to meet representative from DAP
and PAS first. After meeting representative of each party, Khalid Ibrahim was finally sworn in on 13 March 2008. The ten other state executive councillors (exco) were sworn in on March 24. This marked the first time where four out of ten exco members were women and where five out of ten of them were non-Malays.
BN-Opposition parliamentary seats in Perak were split into 13-11 and state seats into 28-31, still giving the opposition the chance to decide the state's government.
It was confirmed Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin was to become the next Menteri Besar of Perak by the Regent of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah
. Sitiawan state assemblyperson Ngeh Koo Ham
was also appointed "Senior Exco Member". An Indian candidate will be appointed the second deputy Menteri Besar, the candidates being DAP's A Sivanesan (Sungkai), KS Keshvinder Singh (Malim Nawar), VN Sivakumar (Tronoh) and A Sivasubramaniam (Buntong), and PKR's S Kesavan but this never materialised.
The appointment of the Perak Menteri Besar was not without drama as the coalition was not seen as cooperative. After the regent of Perak give consent on the informal coalition of DAP-PRK-PAS, each party submitted one name for the post of the new Menteri Besar, the regent of Perak having selected PAS nominee, Mohamad Nizar. DAP assemblymen were instructed to boycott the swearing-in ceremony which was supposed to be held on 13 March 2008 as instructed by DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, a statement which he retracted and apologised to the Perak Sultanate the following day. Seeing a tussle between DAP and PAS, the Regent of Perak decided to postpone the swearing in ceremony until he sees a letter of undertaking signed by all 31 assemblyman voicing support of the appointment of Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin as the Menteri Besar.
By February 2009, the balance of power in Perak was tipped in favour of BN following the defection of four Opposition assemblymen, leading to a political crisis in the state
and the eventual retaking of Perak by BN.
, which Barisan Nasional
won with a two-thirds majority, was the last state to have no appointed Menteri Besar. In the formation of the new Terengganu state government, the government under Prime Minister Abdullah recommended Idris Jusoh
as Menteri Besar, which received full support of twenty-three of the 24 Barisan Nasional state assemblymen who elected. But the Sultan of Terengganu
announced that Kijal
assemblyman Ahmad Said
had been appointed instead.
The Prime Minister claimed that the appointment of Ahmad Said was unconstitutional as it went against the wishes of the assemblymen and the Prime Minister's office who have supported Idris Jusoh candidacy for Menteri Besar. Ahmad Said was subsequently stripped of his UMNO membership "for disobeying the party's leadership".
Eventually the Prime Minister and Sultan resolved the stand-off, with Ahmad being appointed as Menteri Besar.
(DAP) mooted the possibility of having mayor
al elections for Kuala Lumpur
, but the Federal Constitution
needs to be amended to allow such a change. There had not been an elected mayor in Malaysia since such elections were suspended in 1965.
(NEP), which implementation remains a contentious issue in the country. The protesters were dispersed by riot police officers, but vowed to return for more protests.
(KLCI) and an immediate plunge in the KLCI.
On March 10, the first trading day since the election, stocks in the KLCI fell 9.5%, or 123.11 points, from 1,296.33 points to 1,173.22 points by 5.00 pm (MST
), its biggest one-day decline in a decade. Trading in the KLCI was automatically halted for an hour after stocks fell beyond the 20% by 29.8% , as a measure to curb panic selling
; the KLCI resumed trading at 4.00 pm. Among trading companies severely affected were government-linked companies, including blue chip Sime Darby
, (down 50%), UEM World
(down 24%), Tenaga Nasional
(down 15%) and the Malaysian Resources Corporation (down 34-39%). By the end of March 12, the KLCI was able to recoup 60% of its losses, before suffering losses due to unfavourable developments on the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis
in the US. The value of the ringgit
had also dropped by a little over 1% against the US dollar, trading at RM3.2075 per US dollar
on March 10, down from the previous trading day's close of around RM3.166 to the dollar. Government bond
prices ticked down at the open, with the yield on the 10-year benchmark rising up to 3.754 percent from 3.708 percent on Friday. An analyst remarked foreign investors had lost the political stability premium enjoyed prior to the election and might abandon investment prospects in Malaysia.
Doubts on the prospect of large scale projects initiated or managed by the Abdullah Badawi administration between 2004 and 2008 were also highlighted; the Opposition vowed to assess major government projects, including the DAP's plans to review the Penang Global City Centre
, a $7.8 billion real estate development project in Penang which have not gain approval from the local state council even after launching ceremony was held officiated by Malaysia's Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi. The administration's previous proposals to form economical hubs in the northern, eastern
and southern regions of the Malaysian Peninsular, Sabah
and Sarawak
had previously attracted investors, local and foreign, and boasted the KLCI, but also raised questions on how the cost of billion-ringgit projects will be paid for.
Other analysts see the emergence of a stronger Opposition in the parliament as an opportunity for improved transparency and corporate governance. A managing director of a multinational asset management house commented "A powerful opposition is a positive development in the longer term, providing some checks and balances for trillion-ringgit government spending."
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
reports the general election has no immediate effect on the sovereign ratings on Malaysia and still maintains both the local and foreign currency rating for the country. It added budgetary decisions and fiscal policies are still in the ruling party's hands as it only requires a 51% majority instead of a two thirds majority. Moody's Rating Service
also shares in view and did not change its sovereign rating of A3.
State Department
spokesman Kurtis Cooper issued a statement that the US government is ready to cooperate with the newly formed Malaysian government, adding Abdullah remains a viable partner for the US "on a wide range of issues of mutual interest", despite BN's heavy losses in the election and decreased popularity of the party. Among them is the planned conclusion of stalled Free Trade Agreement
negotiations between Malaysia and the US in the next eight months before the next US presidential election
.
Manifestos
Elections in Malaysia
Elections in Malaysia exist at two levels: national level and state level. National level elections are those for membership in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state level elections are for membership in the various State Legislative Assemblies...
, which states that a general election must be held no later than five years subsequent to the previous elections; the previous general election was held in 2004
Malaysian general election, 2004
General elections were held in Malaysia on March 21, 2004. The incumbent National Front government of Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was re-elected with an increased majority.-Election results:...
. Malaysia's Parliament
Parliament of Malaysia
The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament....
was dissolved
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
on February 13, 2008, and the following day, the Election Commission announced nominations would be held on February 24, with general polling
Voting
Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
set for March 8. State assemblies
Dewan Undangan Negeri
A state legislative assembly is the legislature of each of the 13 Malaysian states. Members of a state legislative assembly comprises elected representatives from single-member constituencies during state elections through the first-past-the-post system....
of all states other than Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
were also dissolved and their elections took place at the same time.
Political parties were reported to have begun preparations for the polls as early as January 2008. As in 2004, the incumbent National Front coalition, the ruling political alliance since independence, as well as opposition parties
Opposition (Malaysia)
The Opposition in Malaysia is a term used to describe political parties represented in the Parliament of Malaysia that are not in government either on their own or as part of a governing coalition. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in parliamentary systems, i.e...
represented primarily by Democratic Action Party
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
(DAP), the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), and Parti Keadilan Rakyat
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
(PKR) contested the election.
As with all preceding general elections following independence, the parliamentary election was won by BN, but yielded one of the worst results in the coalition's history. Opposition parties had won 82 seats (out of 222 seats in parliament) or 36.9% of parliamentary seats, while BN only managing to secure the remaining 140 seats or 63.1%. It marked also the first time since the 1969 election
Malaysian general election, 1969
General elections were held in Malaysia on 10 May 1969, although voting was postponed until between 21 and 27 June in Sabah and Sarawak. It resulted in the return to power, with a reduced majority, of the ruling Alliance Party, comprising the United Malays National Organization , the Malayan...
that the coalition did not win a two-thirds supermajority in the Malaysian Parliament required to pass amendments to the Malaysian Constitution
Constitution of Malaysia
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957, is the supreme law of Malaysia. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined the Federation...
. In addition, 5 of 13 state legislatures were won by the opposition, compared with only one in the last election.
Dissolution of the Parliament
The Malaysian ParliamentParliament of Malaysia
The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament....
was dissolved
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
on February 13, 2008 by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Malaysia
The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the indirectly elected head of government of Malaysia. He is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the head of state, who in HM's judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives , the...
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi is a Malaysian politician who served as Prime Minister from 2003 to 2009. He was also the President of the United Malays National Organisation , the largest political party in Malaysia, and led the governing Barisan Nasional parliamentary coalition...
with consent of the Agong
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya gained independence....
, from which a general election will be required to be held within the 60 days, between February 13, 2008 and April 13, 2008. The announcement of the dissolution was done a day after the Prime Minister publicly denied that Parliament would be dissolved on February 13.
Date
Speculation on the exact polling date was rife, as political analysts expected polling to be held after the Chinese New YearChinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
on February 7 and during the week-long school holidays from March 7 to 16, as schools will be available for use as polling station
Polling station
A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...
s. Political analysts saw a March election as an attempt by the Prime Minister to garner a fresh mandate
Mandate (politics)
In politics, a mandate is the authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative.The concept of a government having a legitimate mandate to govern via the fair winning of a democratic election is a central idea of democracy...
before a slowdown in the global and Malaysian economies, and in an effort to bar Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician who served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. Early in his career, Anwar was a close ally of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad but subsequently emerged as the most prominent critic of Mahathir's government.In 1999, he was sentenced...
from contesting, as he is permitted to re-enter politics on April 14, 2008.
On February 14, the Election Commission announced nominations would be held on February 24, with general election
Voting
Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
set for March 8. This will allow for 13 days of campaigning to take place. Anwar Ibrahim subsequently criticised the Prime Minister on the choice of date, calling the move a "dirty trick" and a sign of "Prime Minister Abdullah [...] getting personal." There were expectations that a Member of Parliament from Anwar's party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
, would resign after that date to pave the way for a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
which Anwar could contest to attempt a comeback in Parliament. At the time these claims were unsubstantiated, however, the expectations were fulfilled when Anwar's wife vacated her seat.
Issues and public sentiments
Bersih
The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections or Bersih is a coalition of non-governmental organisations with the aim of revising the current electoral system to ensure fair elections in Malaysia.-2007 Bersih rally:...
, racial equality especially as highlighted by HINDRAF
HINDRAF
HINDRAF or Hindu Rights Action Force ; Chinese:兴权 with its slogan of People's Power மக்கள் சக்தி ) began as a coalition of 30 Hindu non-governmental organizations committed to the preservation of Hindu community rights and heritage in a multiracial Malaysia...
, Internal Security Act
Internal Security Act (Malaysia)
The Internal Security Act 1960 is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. The ISA allows for detention without trial or criminal charges under limited, legally defined circumstances...
detainees, the case surrounding the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip
Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip
The Royal Commission of Inquiry Into the V.K. Lingam Video Clip was formed in late 2007 to investigate into an allegation of illegal intervention into the judicial appointment process of Malaysian judges purportedly occurred in 2002...
and the eligibility of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician who served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. Early in his career, Anwar was a close ally of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad but subsequently emerged as the most prominent critic of Mahathir's government.In 1999, he was sentenced...
.
Anger among ethnic Indians regarding issues such as restrictions on jobs, education, freedom of religion, right and a widespread feeling of loss of dignity have played a part during the 2008 parliamentary elections in Malaysia. One of the other main issues brought up has been whether the election would be conducted fairly. The opposition has pointed out these issues are gerrymandering of electoral districts, uneven media access, outdated electoral systems, election fraud and vote buying.
Besides, it was also alleged that the anti-Khairy Jamaluddin
Khairy Jamaluddin
Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar is a Malaysian politician, and the son-in-law of former Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Since 2008, Khairy has been a member of the Malaysian Parliament representing the constituency of Rembau...
sentiment became another main factor of the National Front's heavy losses, as stated by Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad . is a Malaysian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years.Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir...
. Khairy Jamaluddin is the son-in-law of the current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi is a Malaysian politician who served as Prime Minister from 2003 to 2009. He was also the President of the United Malays National Organisation , the largest political party in Malaysia, and led the governing Barisan Nasional parliamentary coalition...
and was alleged of influencing the Prime Minister when making critical decisions.
Seats
The general election involves 222 parliamentary seats and 505 state assembly seats. In the last election, 219 parliamentary seats were up for contest. The three newly created seats — Igan, Sibuti and Limbang — resulted from a border re-demarcation exercise in Sarawak. There are in total 576 state seats but Sarawak did not dissolve its state assembly in anticipation of the election. The last state electionSarawak state election, 2006
The ninth Sarawak state election was held on May 20, 2006 with nomination day on May 9. The election functioned to elect 71 representatives to the Sarawak State Assembly...
for Sarawak was held on May 20, 2006.
Government
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....
(UMNO) party and their National Front partners ran a younger crop of candidates with fewer ties to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the architect of the country's affirmative-action policies in the election. Abdullah said he needed "one or two more terms" to successfully complete various economic projects he has started.
The government wished to retake the mandate of the opposition state of Kelantan
Kelantan
Kelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu. The Arabic honorific of the state is Darul Naim, ....
from PAS, promising the Kelantanese people major development projects and jobs. Awang Adek Hussin, a deputy minister heading UMNO's campaign in Kelantan said that if voted in they would repair or build 500 mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s, including a Grand Mosque, in order to woo Muslim voters.
In Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
, chief minister and Sabah BN chairman Musa Aman
Musa Aman
Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Musa bin Haji Aman , is the 14th and current Chief Minister of the state of Sabah in Malaysia. He took over the post from Chong Kah Kiat on March 27, 2003...
announced that the same formula used in the 2004 election would be used in this election with regards to the allocation of seats among BN's component parties of Sabah. Sabah BN has used the same allocation formula for both the parliamentary election as well as for the state election
Sabah state election, 2008
The 2008 Sabah state election was held on March 8, 2008, simultaneously with the 12th general election of Malaysia. 60 state assembly seats were contested. The election was won by the Barisan Nasional coalition with a similar amount of seats won as in the previous election, where they won 59...
. In this election, UMNO will contest in 13 parliamentary seats, Parti Bersatu Sabah
Parti Bersatu Sabah
The Parti Bersatu Sabah is a political party in Sabah, east Malaysia. It was registered as a political party on March 5, 1985...
(PBS) will contest in four, United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation
United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation
The United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation is a political party based in Sabah, east Malaysia. It is an ethnically-based party striving to voice the rights and advance the development of Kadazan-Dusun and Murut population of Sabah and the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.-History:The...
(UPKO) in four, Sabah Progressive Party
Sabah Progressive Party
The Sabah Progressive Party is a political party based in Sabah, East Malaysia. It was registered on 21 January 1994 by dissidents led by former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee from Parti Bersatu Sabah . Formerly a component party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, SAPP officially...
(SAPP) in two, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah or PBRS is a minor political party based in Sabah, east Malaysia. It was formed by disaffected members of the Parti Bersatu Sabah on 11 March 1994. On 10 June 1994, it was officially accepted as one of the component parties in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition...
(PBRS) in one, and the Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democratic Party (Malaysia)
The Liberal Democratic Party is a Chinese political party originally founded in the town of Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia by Hiew Min Kong in 1989.The party is considered a minor political party in Malaysia, having its base mainly in Sabah...
(LDP) in one.
BN coalition rolled out a major publicity campaign with a slogan promising "security, peace, prosperity" in advertisements that featured prominently in newspapers and on television.
Opposition
The main Malaysian opposition parties, which comprise of the Parti Keadilan RakyatParti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
(PKR), Democratic Action Party
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
(DAP) and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) planned to deny the ruling coalition a two-thirds majority in Parliament in a bid to loosen the government's five-decade grip on power as reflected by their manifestos. The three parties highlighted Malaysia's rising crime rate, consumer-price inflation and government corruption throughout the election campaign. Civil Society groups unofficially merged five opposition parties under a banner called the Barisan Rakyat (People's Front) in which they agreed on certain policy matters, particularly two civil society documents: The People's Declaration, and The People's Voice; and agreed not to contest against each other in any seats. The five parties include DAP, PKR and PAS, as well as Parti Sosialis Malaysia
Parti Sosialis Malaysia
Parti Sosialis Malaysia , is a socialist political party in Malaysia and an offshoot of Parti Rakyat Malaysia, which originally upheld the same ideology. In its first ten years following its founding in 1998, the party was denied registration as a political party by the Federal Government of Malaysia...
(PSM) and the United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation
United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation
The United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation is a regional political party in Malaysia based in the state of Sabah. It was established in 1978. Before its deregistration, it was the oldest political party in Sabah that was currently still in existence...
(PASOK).
Part of the opposition campaign took place in cyberspace
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and new media, utilising new technologies such as blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s, SMS
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. Currently, major newspapers and television stations, which are partly owned by parties in the government coalition, only mention the opposition in passing. On March 2, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang challenged Abdullah Badawi to hold a televised debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
similar to those held by U.S. presidential candidates
United States presidential election debates
During presidential elections in the United States, it has become customary for the main candidates to engage in a debate...
. However, government leaders stated there was no place for such debates in Malaysia, claiming the focus should be on debating with locals concerning local issues affecting them.
The Opposition had also increased focus on Abdullah Badawi's performance in the last few years and being a poor leader who sleeps on the job. They mentioned that as a result of his weak leadership, matters such as crime, corruption and racial and religious tensions have increased. On March 4, campaigning in Malaysia's general election took on a personal tone as rivals slung accusations of nepotism, hypocrisy, boorish language and sexist tactics. It was also suggested Abdullah is grooming his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin
Khairy Jamaluddin
Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar is a Malaysian politician, and the son-in-law of former Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Since 2008, Khairy has been a member of the Malaysian Parliament representing the constituency of Rembau...
, as Malaysia's future leader.
In terms of raising funds, the Opposition appealed to the public through websites and blogs for supporters to contribute funds through credit cards and bank transfers to help them print campaign posters and hold public forums. The Opposition had repeatedly pointed out that they are unable to match the ruling coalition's massive spending power.
Allegations of fraud
Previous elections in the country had fueled complaints that an allegedly subservient Election Commission, gerrymanderingGerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
, vote fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
, compliant media, misuse of government resources and massive vote buying
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
gave the National Front or Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
an unfair advantage. It had been highlighted to the Election Commission of Malaysia that its electoral roll has been suspect, because of the discovery that it contains nearly 9,000 people aged more than 100. This raised suspicions that the books are contaminated with dead voters
Ghost voter
Ghost voting is a political term which can have several meanings. It can refer to the practice of voters in a legislative body taking part in a vote while not physically there in person to cast their vote, because they were dead, or because they never existed....
which leaves the election vulnerable to fraud.
Further discoveries of people who have been born in the same year possessing different identity cards (IC) and living in many different localities, were uncovered by Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel). These people are registered to vote in various places throughout the country. These issues led to questions regarding the fairness of the elections.
It was also highlighted by the Opposition that certain postal voters were issued with two ballot sheets. This was discovered during checks with the Election Commission when they were preparing postal voting kits. Activists from BERSIH say each ballot was also attached to a letter identifying the voter along with the voting slip serial number, so it would be easy to trace who voted for the opposition. Electoral reform activists said that a number of seats that the opposition could win could be decided by postal votes and that those casting postal votes do not have the freedom to choose the candidate they want.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, which had been monitoring the election process, stated that government restraints on expression, assembly and access to state media would deny Malaysians a fair vote. Calling the electoral process "grossly unfair", Human Rights Watch called on the government to address concerns with fraud in the electoral rolls, and to provide opposition parties access to state media. De facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz accused Human Rights Watch of bias, saying they were attempting to discredit the electoral process because "they know the National Front will win".
On March 17, a week after the release of election results and one-third win by opposition parties, BERSIH claimed the Opposition would have obtained a parliamentary majority if not for fraud. Sivarasa Rasiah
Sivarasa Rasiah
Sivarasa Rasiah ,or also known as R.Sivarasa is a prominent Malaysian politician, lawyer and human rights activist. He is co-founder of Suara Rakyat Malaysia or Suaram and vice-president of the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat...
, BERSIH spokesperson and newly-elected PKR MP for Subang, stated:
Citing 72,058 unreturned ballot papers — of which 41,564 were for parliamentary seats and 30,494 for state assembly seats — BERSIH alleged that many of these ballots had in reality been cast for the opposition or spoilt but were discarded, further pointing to the fact that most of them were postal ballots. BERSIH spokespeople did not rule out further street demonstrations.
Use of indelible ink for voters
On June 2, 2007, the Election Commission made public the proposed use of indelible ink to mark participating voters at polling stations, and its use officially confirmed by the Commission's chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman on August 13, 2007. Its introduction was a measure precluding electoral fraud by preventing duplicate votes, and would mark the first time indelible ink was to be used in a Malaysian general election.Early reaction to the proposal was mixed. Both DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng
Lim Guan Eng
Lim Guan Eng is the 4th Chief Minister of the State of Penang and Secretary-General of the Malaysian Democratic Action Party . He is the son of Lim Kit Siang, Leader of the Opposition in the Dewan Rakyat from 1973 to 1999 and 2004 to 2008....
and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
Abdul Hadi Awang
Dato' Seri Haji Abdul Hadi bin Awang is the current President of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia, an Islamist political party in Malaysia...
welcomed the move, with Abdul Hadi's party voicing interest in the type of ink used. PKR vice-president Tian Chua
Tian Chua
Chua Tian Chang, or better known as Tian Chua , is a Malaysian politician and is currently the Member of Parliament for the Batu constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is also information chief of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the largest opposition party in the Parliament of Malaysia...
initially remained skeptical unless the EC "implemented the system". Members of BN were more critical, with UMNO secretary-general Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad
Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad
Yang Berhomat Dato' Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad is the former Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs. He is a member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the seat of Kangar in Perlis, for the ruling UMNO party.Radzi was first elected to Parliament in 1982...
, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan
Ong Ka Chuan
Dato' Seri Ong Ka Chuan is a Malaysian politician and the Member of Parliament for Tanjung Malim, Perak. He is a former Minister of Housing and Local Government and former secretary-general of the Malaysian Chinese Association , a component party of the Barisan Nasional coalition.Ong is the older...
and Gerakan vice-president Teng Hock Nan proposing the use of other systems, such as a fingerprint-based biometrics
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...
system, as alternatives. An additional comment by BN against the use of the indelible ink was the lack of assurance the ink used will contain safe or halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
ingredients, taking into account Muslim voters. On August 9, the National Fatwa Council declared the ink safe for use, after receiving a lab report from the Chemistry Department of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
The National University of Malaysia is a public university located in Bangi, Selangor which is about 35 km south of Kuala Lumpur...
.
On March 4, 2008, four days before polling, the Commission announced it was canceling the plan, citing concerns about the constitutionality of the measure — without a constitutional amendment permitting the practice, it could be illegal for a polling clerk to stop a voter from voting even if his or her finger was already marked with indelible ink. The Commission chair also claimed intelligence concerning possible conspiracies to undermine the electoral process by applying ink to the fingers of those who had not yet voted, and said it would be best to refrain from adopting the measure for the sake of public order and security. According to the Election Commission, the decision to cancel the use of indelible ink was based on reports that certain parties tried to "sabotage" the election process in Kedah
Kedah
Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...
, Kelantan
Kelantan
Kelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu. The Arabic honorific of the state is Darul Naim, ....
and Perlis
Perlis
Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...
. The police has arrested several persons that tried to smuggle the ink through neighboring Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Opposition parties widely condemned the move. PKR Deputy President Syed Husin Ali alleged that the Commission was "colluding with BN to allow cheating in the coming general elections," and claimed that this was proof the government felt the Opposition would perform well on polling day. Dzulkifli Ahmad, a PAS and BERSIH leader, said that both organisations opposed the move, and that "We want to make it clear that we are entering this election under protest". Dzulkifli added that BERSIH would file a complaint after polling day. Lim Guan Eng declared that the decision would only benefit the ruling coalition, and demanded an explanation for the claim of adverse effects on public security: "It is ridiculous that the use of indelible ink can put the whole country into chaos and ruination." Lim condemned the waste incurred over RM
Malaysian ringgit
The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen...
2 million having been spent purchasing 47,000 bottles of indelible ink from India, as of February 23, and said that the DAP would be investigating legal avenues to reverse the decision.
Response from the ruling coalition was mixed. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
Najib Tun Razak
Dato' Sri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak is the sixth, and since 2009, Prime Minister of Malaysia. He previously held the post of Deputy Prime Minister from 7 January 2004 until he succeeded Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister on 3 April 2009. Najib is President of the United...
, an UMNO leader, found the reversal "appropriate", citing concerns that people would be misled into applying similar-looking ink to their fingers, denying them the right to vote. In a statement, MCA described the measure as "disappointing", saying the late announcement meant opposition parties would unnecessarily politicise the situation.
In response, several leaders of the Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel), including Mafrel chair Abdul Malek Hussin and deputy chair Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, have refused to accept EC accrediting as official observers, saying they refused to legitimise the decision. Officially, they said, any EC-accredited Mafrel member could observe the polling process, and they would themselves carry out all other duties as observers, except those requiring EC accreditation such as observing the polling process from within polling stations. Abdul Malek added that Mafrel strongly protested the decision as contrary to its own recommendations, and compared the measure to withdrawing all currency from circulation because of the presence of counterfeit notes. He further questioned the legal reasoning behind the decision, arguing that as Parliament had speedily passed a constitutional amendment to extend the tenure of the EC chairperson, any necessary constitutional amendments could have been introduced and passed well in advance.
After the election, Anwar Ibrahim claimed that the failure to use indelible ink had cost the PKR-DAP-PAS coalition 15 seats in Parliament, adding that "It is not unrealistic to imagine that we could actually have won a majority right then." Two weeks after the polls, several NGOs including the Malaysian Voters Union asked the Attorney-General to officially charge four men who they alleged had been arrested for involvement in the supposed conspiracy. As of March 24, 2008, the men had not been remand
Detention of suspects
The detention of suspects is the process of keeping a person who has been arrested in a police-cell, remand prison or other detention centre before trial or sentencing. One criticism of pretrial detention is that eventual acquittal can be a somewhat hollow victory, in that there is no way to...
ed by a court, nor charged with a crime; their arrest was not publicised.
In May, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar
Syed Hamid Albar
Tan Sri Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar , is a Malaysian politician and the former Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs. He is currently the chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission. He is also a member of the United Malays National Organisation , part of the ruling Barisan Nasional...
told Parliament in his written response to a question from Fong Po Kuan
Fong Po Kuan
Fong Po Kuan is a Malaysian politician from the Democratic Action Party political party. She is able to communicate in Chinese, English, and Malay. She did her STPM in Anglo Chinese School, Ipoh in 1992...
that "there was no evidence at all to show the ink was smuggled in from Thailand... From the witness statements, no individual, syndicate or any particular party was identified to be involved in this (ink smuggling). The complainant and witness' statement were based on hearsay and no individual was identified positively."
Unused, the ink remained in storage until November 25, 2009, when it was burnt in accordance to government procedures. Prior to disposal, the ink was to be sold, but had passed its expiry date.
Results
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
among Malaysia's 10.9 million eligible voters estimated to be 70 percent. Barisan Nasional won 91 percent of parliamentary seats in 2004 election, but its majority is expected to be clipped this time as it suffers a backlash from ethnic Chinese and Indians. Early vote counting showed the Barisan Nasional was already faring badly in early tallies across the country with the exception of Sabah, Sarawak and Johor, as claimed by Kelantan United Malays National Organisation
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....
(UMNO) state chief Annuar Musa. The opposition began claiming using their own estimates that they have denied the government its two-thirds majority in parliament.
Barisan Nasional was able to return to power and form the next government, with a simple majority but without the crucial two-thirds majority in parliament. It is BN's worst performance in Malaysia's general election since independence in 1957, winning only 63.5% (140 out of 222) of parliamentary seats that were contested; the only other time the 14-party coalition failed to win a two-thirds majority was in 1969 when it secured 66% of the seats. Component parties in BN, including the Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
(MCA), Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), and Gerakan
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
The Malaysian People's Movement Party is a political party in Malaysia. The party was founded on March 24, 1968, and , it is part of the ruling National Front coalition....
, saw its number of state and federal seats severely reduced by half or more. UMNO also saw its number reduce significantly but not by as much as half. Also noted were MIC president S. Samy Vellu, Gerakan acting president Koh Tsu Koon
Koh Tsu Koon
Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon is a Malaysian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Penang from 1990 to 2008 and is currently a member of the Dewan Negara, the upper house of the Malaysian Parliament...
and PPP
People's Progressive Party (Malaysia)
The People's Progressive Party is a political party in Malaysia.The party is one of the constituent members of the ruling National Front and is a multiracial party.-History:...
president M. Kayveas
M. Kayveas
Datuk Seri Dr. M. Kayveas is a Malaysian politician and president of the People's Progressive Party . He was formerly a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department....
, who were trounced in their respective election contests.
The results of several states have been rather surprising to everybody involved. Many of the states BN have lost are those on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
where it has traditionally focused most of its attention to. These states experienced more development and investment than other states, and account for much of the country's population. The remaining states that have given BN its simple majority are states that are economically weaker than what the opposition have gained.
Uncontested wins
On the nomination day, February 24, 2008, BN secured seven parliamentary seats and two state assembly seats uncontested. PAS also won a state seat after the BN nominee was found to have been declared bankrupt, although this was later disproved.On February 26, 2008, independent contender Junak Jawek dropped out of the polls for the new Parliamentary seat of Igan. Wahab Dolah of BN was declared the winner. This brings the total number of uncontested wins by National Front to ten seats as of February 27, 2008: eight parliamentary and two state seats.
Some PKR candidates have alleged fraud, claiming they received offers from BN not to contest. Rahamat Idil Latip, the PKR candidate for the Parliamentary seat of Santubong, claimed he was told he would receive RM300,000 if he withdrew his nomination. After jokingly asking for RM3 million, he was told that it would be considered.
Pensiangan
One of the parliamentary seats won unopposed by BN was in P.182 PensianganPensiangan
Pensiangan is a small town and also a parliamentary constituency in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. It is located in the Interior Division and is the capital of the district of Pensiangan. It is one of the most rural towns in Sabah located deep in the jungles of Borneo, and about 115 kilometres...
(Sabah), which was won by Joseph Kurup
Joseph Kurup
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Kurup is a Malaysian politician. He is currently the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Pensiangan constituency in Sabah, representing the United Sabah People's Party...
of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah or PBRS is a minor political party based in Sabah, east Malaysia. It was formed by disaffected members of the Parti Bersatu Sabah on 11 March 1994. On 10 June 1994, it was officially accepted as one of the component parties in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition...
(PBRS). The two candidates who were supposed to contest in this seat were Danny Anthony Andipai (PKR
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
) and Saineh (independent). Both were disqualified after submitting their nomination forms after 10:00 am.
It was alleged by both rejected candidates that they were blocked from going to the nomination centre, resulting in both candidates submitting their candidacies late, at 10:25 am and 10:30 am, respectively. During the one-hour objection period from 11:00 am, Kurup raised objections to the late submissions and they were accepted by the returning officer; he then disqualified the two candidates from contesting. Police reports were later lodged on the matter in Keningau
Keningau
Keningau is a sprawling timber and agricultural town and district located in the Interior Division of Sabah, east Malaysia on the island of Borneo...
. Joseph Kurup, on the other hand, claimed he was punched after being declared winner of the seat; he also lodged a police report on this matter.
On September 8, 2008, Kota Kinabalu High Court judge Justice David Wong Dak Wah declared that the Pensiangan parliamentary seat which was won uncontested by Kurup invalid and Kurup's seat be left vacant, paving the way for a possible by-election for this constituency. Recent amendments to the election laws, however, allow Kurup to appeal the decision at the Federal Court. The petition was filed by Andipai, and had named Kurup, returning officer Bubudan OT Majalu, and the Election Commission as respondents.
On March 13, 2009, The Federal Court in Kota Kinabalu overturned an Election Court decision on Sept 8 to strip Pensiangan MP Joseph Kurup of the seat and declare it vacant.Federal Court Judge Nik Hashim Nik Abdul Rahman who delivered the verdict held that Kurup was duly elected to the parliamentary constituency of P182 Pensiangan.
Nik Hashim held that there had not been any failure on the part of the Returning Officer (RO) to comply with the election laws.
Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
. Although Penang was regarded as a hotly contested state, the outcome unexpectedly turned out to be a landslide win with the opposition, the Democratic Action Party
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
(DAP) gaining the majority of the state seats. Many seats saw the opposition winning over two-thirds of the votes, rather than the usual 50-50 distribution. BN only won 2 of the 13 parliamentary seats and 11 of the 40 state seats, its worst performance in Malaysian history.
In terms of party landscape, Gerakan, which has led the state since 1969 was defeated, and essentially wiped out of the political landscape, winning only 3 state seats and 2 parliamentary seats (none of which were in this state), not being able to hold on to a single seat in state or federal level—over 30 years of rule gone in one night. Some interesting individual constituencies include Jeff Ooi
Jeff Ooi
Ooi Chuan Aun , better known as Jeff Ooi, is a Malaysian IT consultant by profession, blogger, photographer and politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament for Jelutong in the 12th Malaysian Parliament.He is a well known for his criticism of Muslims and Islam in Malaysia...
, who rose to fame with his blog that was constantly critical of the ruling government and made his first foray into politics this election under the DAP, winning the Jelutong parliamentary seat.
Another significant blow was the defeat of Gerakan Acting President, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon
Koh Tsu Koon
Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon is a Malaysian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Penang from 1990 to 2008 and is currently a member of the Dewan Negara, the upper house of the Malaysian Parliament...
, who was looking to move up from state politics, decided not to run for his state seat and subsequently gave up his Chief Minister post of 18 years, to challenge the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat. Some speculated this was part of a larger ambition to be a cabinet member, only to lose to newcomer P. Ramasamy of the DAP by a large margin of 9,485 votes.
Kedah
The state of KedahKedah
Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...
, which along with Penang, has traditionally produced a substantial bulk of past and present BN leaders (including Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, AC, CH was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained as the Prime Minister after Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined the...
, and Mahathir Mohamad), also overwhelmingly rose to the call of the opposition. BN only won 4 of the 15 parliamentary seats but did better by winning 14 out of 36 state seats, while the Opposition took the remaining 22 of the 36 state seats, with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) winning 16, Parti Keadilan Rakyat
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
(PKR) four and the DAP and an independent, one each.
Kelantan
PAS retained control of the state of KelantanKelantan
Kelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu. The Arabic honorific of the state is Darul Naim, ....
, despite a vigorous campaign by the ruling Barisan Nasional, winning 38 of the 45 state assembly seats along with PKR (which has won one seat). It was a personal setback for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who had promised millions of dollars in development aid, intending to boost the chances of the Barisan Nasional coalition. The win marks the fifth consecutive time PAS retains power in Kelantan since 1990
Malaysian general election, 1990
General elections were held in Malaysia on 21 October 1990. The result was a victory for the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional, which won 127 of the 180 seats...
and surpasses PAS' previous record of continuous electoral wins in Kelantan—four between 1959
Malayan general election, 1959
General elections were held in Malaya on 19 August 1959, the first since independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. It was the third national-wide election held in Malaya since the end of World War II. Malaya later formed Malaysia with three other states in 1963. Voter turnout was 73.3%.In the...
to 1978
Malaysian general election, 1978
General elections were held in Malaysia on 8 July 1978. It was Hussein Onn's first election since he became the country's third Prime Minister. His Barisan Nasional Party emerged victorious with 131 of the 154 seats in Parliament...
.
Selangor
Being the most developed state of the country and receiving the most absolute benefits due to spillover effects from developing the capital, Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Barisan Nasional party leaders were blindsided when Selangor
Selangor
Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...
rose to the call of the opposition. Many thought it was a safe stronghold of BN loyalists as it has been all along a centralist state leaning towards BN. According to The Star
The Star (Malaysia)
The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
s summary of the state: "Barisan will undoubtedly retain the state but look out for some interesting, even tough, fights in certain parliamentary and state seats where the Opposition is fielding some strong candidates". Far from being the truth, BN ended up with only 5 of the 22 parliamentary seats and 20 of the 56 state seats, leaving the state government in opposition hands. The state Bernama
BERNAMA
BERNAMA is a news agency of the government of Malaysia. It is an autonomous body placed under the Information, Culture and Communications Ministry. It was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1967 and started work on 26 May 1968....
news agency said that opposition parties had claimed 35 of the 56 seats in the Selangor state legislature but did not give a breakdown between PAS and the other parties.
Perak
In PerakPerak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
, the Barisan Nasional suffered shock losses, including MIC president S. Samy Vellu's Sungai Siput
Sungai Siput
Sungai Siput is a town and also a parliamentary constituency in Kuala Kangsar district, Perak, Malaysia. Since the recent Malaysian general election of 8 March 2008, this parliamentary constituency is represented by Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, from Pakatan Rakyat Party, in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower...
seat and PPP president M. Kayveas
M. Kayveas
Datuk Seri Dr. M. Kayveas is a Malaysian politician and president of the People's Progressive Party . He was formerly a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department....
's Taiping
Taiping, Perak
Taiping is a town located in northern Perak, Malaysia. With a population of 191,104 , it is the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital. Taiping took over Kuala Kangsar's role as the state capital from 1876 to 1937, but was then replaced by Ipoh...
seat. UMNO suffered several major setbacks in the party's traditional strongholds, while most MCA, MIC, PPP and Gerakan candidates were defeated by DAP candidates.
Perak was nonetheless one of the most tightly contested state of the nation with BN-Opposition parliamentary seats split into 13-11 and state seats into 28-31, still giving the opposition the chance to decide the state's government.
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
is a federal territory divided into 11 parliamentary constituencies. In this election, the opposition won ten seats (five are held by DAP, four by PKR, and one by PAS), while Barisan Nasional won only one. In the previous election, BN held 7 seats while DAP held 4 seats.
Parliamentary results
State assembly results
Summary of the 8 March 2008 Malaysian state elections results|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Candidates
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% of vote
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% of seats
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|+/–
|-
|align=left| Perlis
Perlis
Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
(Barisan Nasional, BN) || 15 || 58,459 || 61.50 || 14 || 93.33 ||
|-
|align=left|United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO) || 13 || 51,346 || 54.02 || 12 || 93.33 ||
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
(Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA) || 2 || 7,113 || 7.48 || 2 || 93.3 ||
|-
|align=left|Opposition Parties, including People's Alliance
Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....
(Pakatan Rakyat) coalition: || 15 || 35,007 || 36.83 || 1 || 6.67 ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || 12 || 29,698 || 31.24 || 1 || 6.67 ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || 3 || 5,309 || 5.59 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || 1 || 1,585 || 1.7 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || 31 || 95,051 || 100.00 || 15 || 100.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Kedah
Kedah
Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
(Barisan Nasional, BN) || 36 || 322,358 || 47.40 || 14 || 38.89 || 17
|-
|align=left|United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO) || 28 || 259,940 || 38.22 || 12 || 33.33 || 11
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
(Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA) || 4 || 31,674 || 4.66 || 1 || 2.78 || 3
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Indian Congress (Kongres India Se-Malaysia, MIC) || 2 || 18,376 || 2.70 || 0 || 0.00 || 2
|-
|align=left|Malaysian People's Movement Party (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, Gerakan) || 2 || 12,368 || 1.82 || 1 || 2.78 || 1
|-
|align=left|Opposition Parties, including People's Alliance
Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....
(Pakatan Rakyat) coalition: || 36 || 342,761 || 50.40 || 21 || 58.33 || 16
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (Parti Tindakan Demokratik, DAP) || 2 || 7,510 || 1.10 || 1 || 2.78 || 1
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || 24 || 250,028 || 36.76 || 16 || 44.44 || 11
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || 10 || 85,223 || 12.53 || 4 || 11.11 || 4
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || 4 || 14,990 || 2.20 || 1 || 2.78 || 1
|-
|align=left| Overall total || 76 || 680,109 || 100.00 || 36 || 100.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Kelantan
Kelantan
Kelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu. The Arabic honorific of the state is Darul Naim, ....
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
(Barisan Nasional, BN) || 44 || 269,501 || 45.12 || 6 || 13.33 || 15
|-
|align=left|United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO) || 43 || 252,840 || 42.33 || 6 || 13.33 || 15
|-
|align=left|Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
(Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA) || 1 || 7,661 || 1.28 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left|Opposition Parties, including People's Alliance
Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....
(Pakatan Rakyat) coalition: || 45 || 336,610 || 56.36 || 39 || 86.67 || 15
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || 40 || 313,575 || 52.50 || 38 || 84.44 || 14
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || 5 || 23,035 || 3.86 || 1 || 2.22 || 1
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || 1 || 147 || 0.02 || 0 || 0.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || 90 || 597,258 || 100.00 || 45 || 100.00 ||
|-
|align=left| Terengganu
Terengganu
Terengganu is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Iman...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 24 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 8 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 32 || ||
|-
|align=left| Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 11 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 19 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 9 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 40 || ||
|-
|align=left| Perak
Perak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 28 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 18 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 6 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 7 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 59 || ||
|-
|align=left| Pahang
Pahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 37 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 2 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 2 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 42 || ||
|-
|align=left| Selangor
Selangor
Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 20 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 13 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 8 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 15 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 56 || ||
|-
|align=left| Negri Sembilan || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 21 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 10 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || 4 || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 36 || ||
|-
|align=left| Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 23 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 5 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 28 || ||
|-
|align=left| Johor
Johor
Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 50 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 4 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || 2 || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 56 || ||
|-
|align=left| Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
|| || || || ||
|-
|align=left|National Front
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
|| || || 59 || ||
|-
|align=left|Democratic Action Party (DAP) || || || 1 || ||
|-
|align=left|Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left|Independent (and others) || || || || ||
|-
|align=left| Overall total || || || 60 || ||
|-
|align=left colspan=6|Source: The Star
The Star (Malaysia)
The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
, Kuala Lumpur
|}
Rusila (Terengganu) riot
Polling day was uneventful except a serious incident in RusilaRusila
Rusila is situated 12 km from Kuala Terengganu and it is in the district of Marang, Malaysia. Rusila is famous as an Islamic learning centre for ordinary people in Terengganu. There is an old concept of 'Menadah Kitab' which means the people who want to learn Islam will go to the place where...
, in the northern state of Terengganu
Terengganu
Terengganu is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Iman...
, where 300 supporters of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) stopped several buses and cars they suspected carrying fraudulent voters ferried in by the coalition and confiscating Malaysian identity card
MyKad
MyKad is the compulsory identity document for Malaysian citizens aged 12 and above. Introduced by the National Registration Department of Malaysia on 5 September 2001 as one of four MSC Malaysia flagship applications and a replacement for the High Quality Identity Card , Malaysia became the first...
s of the voters. When the police arrived to bring order, the PAS supporters were reported to have beaten up the police and destroyed police vehicles, including several Federal Reserve Unit (Malaysian riot police
Royal Malaysian Police
The Royal Malaysia Police is a part of the security forces structure in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organization with responsibilities ranging from traffic control to intelligence gathering. Its headquarters is located at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur. The police force is led by an...
) vehicles. A helicopter from the Royal Malaysian Army had to be called in. To break up the rioters, police fired tear gas, and the son of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
Abdul Hadi Awang
Dato' Seri Haji Abdul Hadi bin Awang is the current President of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia, an Islamist political party in Malaysia...
was among those arrested. The offending voters were mostly university students and young professionals from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore who were provided free buses by Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
to go back to Kelantan and Terengganu to vote in their favour.
Pullout of SAPP from BN
Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has decided to pull out of the 14-member Barisan Nasional Government, taking away two MPs and at least two of its four assemblymen who will remain independent.The decision to pull out was made at the SAPP supreme council meeting where its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee obtained the support of nearly all of its 35 members and declared that SAPP was not joining Pakatan Rakyat.
Yong said his party would remain independent in the opposition bench until a time came when SAPP was ready to be back in government.
Establishment of Opposition-led state governments
With substantial wins in several states, opposition parties were required to form state governments led by Opposition members on a scale unseen in recent decades.In Penang, the Democratic Action Party
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
(DAP) formed the next state government with Lim Guan Eng
Lim Guan Eng
Lim Guan Eng is the 4th Chief Minister of the State of Penang and Secretary-General of the Malaysian Democratic Action Party . He is the son of Lim Kit Siang, Leader of the Opposition in the Dewan Rakyat from 1973 to 1999 and 2004 to 2008....
, who is also the party's Secretary General, as its designated next Chief Minister. Two days later, the new Chief Minister appointed two Deputy Chief Ministers, Penanti assemblyman Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin of PKR and Prai assemblyman P. Ramasamy of DAP. P. Ramasamy became the first ethnic Indian to be appointed as deputy chief minister in a Malaysian state.
The coalition consisting of mainly Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) formed the next state government in Kedah, after winning 22 out of 36 seats. Out of the 22 seats, 16 were won by PAS, 4 by PKR, and 1 each by DAP and an independent candidate. Kedah's state PAS commissioner, Azizan Abdul Razak
Azizan Abdul Razak
Dato' Seri Azizan bin Abdul Razak is the Menteri Besar of the Malaysian state of Kedah. His Parti Islam Se-Malaysia leads a coalition government of Kedah with PKR and the DAP after their victory in the 2008 Malaysian election. Ustaz Azizan is the first Menteri Besar of Kedah from a political...
, has been sworn in as the ninth Kedah Menteri Besar
Menteri Besar
The Menteri Besar is the chief executive of the state government for states in Malaysia with hereditary rulers. For states without a monarch, the title Chief Minister is used...
. The sole independent candidate who won, V. Arumugam, was chosen to be one of the 10 state executive councillors for the state.
In Kelantan, Nik Aziz Nik Mat received his letter of appointment as Kelantan Menteri Besar on the night of March 11 for the fifth consecutive term from the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Ismail Petra
Sultan Ismail Petra of Kelantan
Duli Yang Maha Mulia Ismail Petra ibn Sultan Yahya Petra was the Sultan of Kelantan, Malaysia from March 30, 1980 until September 13, 2010. His father is Sultan Yahya Petra and his mother is Tengku Zainab. His first wife is Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja Perempuan Tengku Anis Binti Tengku Abdul Hamid...
. Three state assemblymen, including Wan Ubaidah Wan Omar (Kijang), Dr Fazli Hassan (Temangan) and Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (Wakaf Baru), were also appointed as state executive councillors.
The next designated Menteri Besar of Selangor was speculated to be PKR's Khalid Ibrahim. However, Khalid failed to get the consent from the Sultan, who stated he would like to meet representative from DAP
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
and PAS first. After meeting representative of each party, Khalid Ibrahim was finally sworn in on 13 March 2008. The ten other state executive councillors (exco) were sworn in on March 24. This marked the first time where four out of ten exco members were women and where five out of ten of them were non-Malays.
BN-Opposition parliamentary seats in Perak were split into 13-11 and state seats into 28-31, still giving the opposition the chance to decide the state's government.
It was confirmed Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin was to become the next Menteri Besar of Perak by the Regent of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah
Raja Nazrin Shah
Raja Dr Nazrin Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah is the Raja Muda of Perak. He is the eldest son of the current Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu and the Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Bainun Binti Mohd...
. Sitiawan state assemblyperson Ngeh Koo Ham
Ngeh Koo Ham
Yang Berhormat Dato' Ngeh Koo Ham , born in 1961, is a native of Ayer Tawar, Perak, Malaysia. He is a member of the Democratic Action Party in Malaysia, which is a member of Socialist International...
was also appointed "Senior Exco Member". An Indian candidate will be appointed the second deputy Menteri Besar, the candidates being DAP's A Sivanesan (Sungkai), KS Keshvinder Singh (Malim Nawar), VN Sivakumar (Tronoh) and A Sivasubramaniam (Buntong), and PKR's S Kesavan but this never materialised.
The appointment of the Perak Menteri Besar was not without drama as the coalition was not seen as cooperative. After the regent of Perak give consent on the informal coalition of DAP-PRK-PAS, each party submitted one name for the post of the new Menteri Besar, the regent of Perak having selected PAS nominee, Mohamad Nizar. DAP assemblymen were instructed to boycott the swearing-in ceremony which was supposed to be held on 13 March 2008 as instructed by DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, a statement which he retracted and apologised to the Perak Sultanate the following day. Seeing a tussle between DAP and PAS, the Regent of Perak decided to postpone the swearing in ceremony until he sees a letter of undertaking signed by all 31 assemblyman voicing support of the appointment of Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin as the Menteri Besar.
By February 2009, the balance of power in Perak was tipped in favour of BN following the defection of four Opposition assemblymen, leading to a political crisis in the state
2009 Perak constitutional crisis
The 2009 Perak constitutional crisis was a political dispute in Malaysia regarding the legitimacy of the Perak state government formed in February 2009. It began when three Pakatan Rakyat state legislators defected, causing a collapse of the state government...
and the eventual retaking of Perak by BN.
Political crisis in Terengganu
The state of TerengganuTerengganu
Terengganu is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Iman...
, which Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
won with a two-thirds majority, was the last state to have no appointed Menteri Besar. In the formation of the new Terengganu state government, the government under Prime Minister Abdullah recommended Idris Jusoh
Idris Jusoh
Haji Idris bin Jusoh was the former Menteri Besar of the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation which is part of the nation ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.- Crisis in Terengganu :...
as Menteri Besar, which received full support of twenty-three of the 24 Barisan Nasional state assemblymen who elected. But the Sultan of Terengganu
Sultan of Terengganu
Sultan of Terengganu is the title of the constitutional head of Terengganu state in Malaysia. The current sultan, Mizan Zainal Abidin, is the seventeenth Sultan of Terengganu...
announced that Kijal
Kijal
Kijal is a small town in southern Terengganu, Malaysia. The town is well-known for the Awana Kijal Golf and Beach Resort, a luxury resort and a stop over for Star Cruises ocean liners, which are both owned by the Genting Group.Kijal was popularly known because of its durian and lemang...
assemblyman Ahmad Said
Ahmad Said
Datuk Seri Ahmad Said is the Menteri Besar of the state of Terengganu, Malaysia since 2008. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation which is part of the nation ruling coalition Barisan Nasional...
had been appointed instead.
The Prime Minister claimed that the appointment of Ahmad Said was unconstitutional as it went against the wishes of the assemblymen and the Prime Minister's office who have supported Idris Jusoh candidacy for Menteri Besar. Ahmad Said was subsequently stripped of his UMNO membership "for disobeying the party's leadership".
Eventually the Prime Minister and Sultan resolved the stand-off, with Ahmad being appointed as Menteri Besar.
Proposed return of elected Kuala Lumpur mayors
Cheras MP Tan Kok WaiTan Kok Wai
Tan Kok Wai is a Malaysian politician and is currently the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Cheras constituency in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur...
(DAP) mooted the possibility of having mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
al elections for Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, but the Federal Constitution
Constitution of Malaysia
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957, is the supreme law of Malaysia. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined the Federation...
needs to be amended to allow such a change. There had not been an elected mayor in Malaysia since such elections were suspended in 1965.
Penang protests
On March 14, several hundred protesters from the Malay community gathered in Chinese majority Penang as a response to a declaration by the Penang government under Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng that they would abolish certain aspects of the New Economical PolicyMalaysian New Economic Policy
The Malaysian New Economic Policy , was an ambitious and controversial socio-economic restructuring affirmative action program launched by the Malaysian government in 1971 under the then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. The NEP ended in 1990, and was succeeded by the National Development Policy in...
(NEP), which implementation remains a contentious issue in the country. The protesters were dispersed by riot police officers, but vowed to return for more protests.
Economy
Political uncertainty as a result of the formation of a significantly different Malaysian government, coupled with worries of a global economic slowdown due to negative economic development from the United States, led to uneasiness among investors in the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite IndexKuala Lumpur Composite Index
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index is a capitalization-weighted stock market index. Introduced in 1986, it is now known as the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI...
(KLCI) and an immediate plunge in the KLCI.
On March 10, the first trading day since the election, stocks in the KLCI fell 9.5%, or 123.11 points, from 1,296.33 points to 1,173.22 points by 5.00 pm (MST
Malaysian Standard Time
Malaysia Standard Time or Waktu Piawai Malaysia or Malaysia Time is a standard time used in Malaysia. It is 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and Coordinated Universal Time. The local mean time in Kuala Lumpur was originally GMT+06:46:48...
), its biggest one-day decline in a decade. Trading in the KLCI was automatically halted for an hour after stocks fell beyond the 20% by 29.8% , as a measure to curb panic selling
Panic selling
Panic selling is a wide-scale selling of an investment, in order to get out of an investment . The main problem is that investors react simply out of emotion and fear, without evaluating the fundamentals. Almost all market crashes are caused by panic selling. Most major stock exchanges use trading...
; the KLCI resumed trading at 4.00 pm. Among trading companies severely affected were government-linked companies, including blue chip Sime Darby
Sime Darby
Sime Darby is Malaysia's leading multinational conglomerate involved in five core sectors: plantations, property, industrial, motors and energy & utilities, with a growing presence in healthcare...
, (down 50%), UEM World
UEM Group
United Engineers Malaysia Berhad or UEM Group is a Malaysian company of Engineering and Constructions, Township and Property Development, Expressways and Asset Facilities Management....
(down 24%), Tenaga Nasional
Tenaga Nasional
Tenaga Nasional Berhad is the largest Electric utility company in Malaysia and also the largest power company in Southeast Asia with MYR 69.8 billion worth of assets. It serves over seven million customers throughout Peninsular Malaysia and also the eastern state of Sabah through Sabah Electricity...
(down 15%) and the Malaysian Resources Corporation (down 34-39%). By the end of March 12, the KLCI was able to recoup 60% of its losses, before suffering losses due to unfavourable developments on the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis
Subprime mortgage crisis
The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....
in the US. The value of the ringgit
Malaysian ringgit
The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen...
had also dropped by a little over 1% against the US dollar, trading at RM3.2075 per US dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
on March 10, down from the previous trading day's close of around RM3.166 to the dollar. Government bond
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
prices ticked down at the open, with the yield on the 10-year benchmark rising up to 3.754 percent from 3.708 percent on Friday. An analyst remarked foreign investors had lost the political stability premium enjoyed prior to the election and might abandon investment prospects in Malaysia.
Doubts on the prospect of large scale projects initiated or managed by the Abdullah Badawi administration between 2004 and 2008 were also highlighted; the Opposition vowed to assess major government projects, including the DAP's plans to review the Penang Global City Centre
Penang Global City Centre
The Penang Global City Centre was a proposed project to be located at Penang Turf Club on Penang Island, Malaysia. The developers who proposed PGCC hoped to use 50,000 square metres divided between two five-star hotels, a 75,000 square metre Penang performing arts centre, a 400,000 square metre ...
, a $7.8 billion real estate development project in Penang which have not gain approval from the local state council even after launching ceremony was held officiated by Malaysia's Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi. The administration's previous proposals to form economical hubs in the northern, eastern
East Coast Economic Region
East Coast Economic Region ' is a new economic development corridor in Malaysia based on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia - which covers states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the north of Mersing district of Johor...
and southern regions of the Malaysian Peninsular, Sabah
Sabah Development Corridor
The Sabah Development Corridor or SDC is a new development corridor in Sabah, Malaysia. The SDC was launched on 29 January 2008....
and Sarawak
Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy
The Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy or SCORE is a new development corridor in central Sarawak state, Malaysia. SCORE was launched on 11 February 2008. It is one of the five regional development corridors being developed throughout the country...
had previously attracted investors, local and foreign, and boasted the KLCI, but also raised questions on how the cost of billion-ringgit projects will be paid for.
Other analysts see the emergence of a stronger Opposition in the parliament as an opportunity for improved transparency and corporate governance. A managing director of a multinational asset management house commented "A powerful opposition is a positive development in the longer term, providing some checks and balances for trillion-ringgit government spending."
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...
reports the general election has no immediate effect on the sovereign ratings on Malaysia and still maintains both the local and foreign currency rating for the country. It added budgetary decisions and fiscal policies are still in the ruling party's hands as it only requires a 51% majority instead of a two thirds majority. Moody's Rating Service
Moody's
Moody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized...
also shares in view and did not change its sovereign rating of A3.
International reaction
On March 9, United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
spokesman Kurtis Cooper issued a statement that the US government is ready to cooperate with the newly formed Malaysian government, adding Abdullah remains a viable partner for the US "on a wide range of issues of mutual interest", despite BN's heavy losses in the election and decreased popularity of the party. Among them is the planned conclusion of stalled Free Trade Agreement
Malaysia-US Free Trade Agreement
The Malaysia-US Free Trade Agreement is a proposed treaty between Malaysia and the United States of America. The treaty aims to liberalize each other markets to parties of the agreement and directly encourage trade between the two countries. As of 2005, the US is Malaysia's largest trading partner...
negotiations between Malaysia and the US in the next eight months before the next US presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
.
See also
- Elections in MalaysiaElections in MalaysiaElections in Malaysia exist at two levels: national level and state level. National level elections are those for membership in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state level elections are for membership in the various State Legislative Assemblies...
, for an overview of Malaysian electoral processes and general, state and by-elections. - Parliament of MalaysiaParliament of MalaysiaThe Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament....
- History of MalaysiaHistory of MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in South East Asia whose strategic sea-lane position brought trade and foreign influences that fundamentally influenced its history. Hindu and Buddhist cultures imported from India dominated early Malaysian history...
- History of Kuala LumpurHistory of Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the largest city in Malaysia; it is also the nation's capital. The history of Kuala Lumpur began in the middle of the 19th century with the rise of the tin extraction industry.-Pre-independence era :...
- History of PenangHistory of PenangThe history of Penang is closely related to the history of Kedah. Penang was previously part of the sultanate of Kedah until it became a British possession in 1786...
- History of Kuala Lumpur
External links
- Official Election Commission of Malaysia website
- Official results of the 2008 Malaysian general election
- Official National Front campaign website
- Undi.info, hosted by MalaysiakiniMalaysiakiniMalaysiakini is a political news website published in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Since its launch on November 20, 1999, it has been widely considered to be one of the leading non-government owned paid-news agencies in Malaysia. Compete.com estimates that Malaysiakini now attracts over...
Manifestos
