RECENT ELECTION:

Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of IFES election guide)

The Paramount Ruler is elected N/A to serve a 5-year term. In the Senate (Dewan Negara), 43 members are appointed by the paramount ruler to serve 3-year terms and 26 members are appointed by the state legislatures to serve 3-year terms. In the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) 222 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

WANT MORE ELECTION RELATED STATS FOR MALAYSIA? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

General Election

March 8, 2008

The 12th Malaysian general election was held on March 8, 2008 after the Parliament was dissolved on February 13, 2008. The results were 82 seats (out of 222 seats in parliament) or 36.9% of parliamentary seats won by the opposition parties, with Barisan Nasional winning the remaining 140 seats or 63.1%. This is the first time since 1969 that the coalition did not win a two-thirds majority in the Malaysian Parliament.

Politics of Malaysia

(courtesy of wikipedia)

The politics of Malaysia takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The new Head of State is His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, who was installed on 26 April 2007. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). Since independence, politics has been dominated by the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).