A general election was held on Saturday, 8 March 2008 for members of the 12th Parliament of Malaysia. Voting took place in all 222 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. State elections also took place in 505 state constituencies in 12 out of 13 states (excluding Sarawak) on the same day. The 11th Parliament was dissolved on 13 February 2008, and the following day, the

Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

announced nominations would be held on 24 February, with general polling set for 8 March. State assemblies of all states except Sarawak (due to election in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

) 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 People's Justice Party (PKR) contested the election. As with all preceding general elections following independence, the parliamentary election was won by BN, but this election also yielded the worst results in the coalition's history until election

ten years later ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later'' (french: link=no, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne ou Dix ans plus tard ) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of ''The d'Artagnan Romances'', following ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''Tw ...

. Opposition parties won 82 seats in the 222-seat

Dewan Rakyat The Dewan Rakyat (English: 'House of Representatives'; ) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the federal legislature of Malaysia. The chamber and its powers are established by Article 44 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The Dewan Ra ...

and 47.79% of the vote, while BN only managing to secure the remaining 140 seats and 51.39% of the vote. It marked 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, five of the twelve contested state legislatures were won by the opposition, compared with only one in the last election but

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

was retaken by Barisan Nasional after 11- month administration by Pakatan Rakyat coalition. This marked the end of

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...

's tenure as Prime Minister before his handover to

Najib Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysi ...

several months later. As of the

2022 general election The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local ...

, this is the last time the National Front won the overall popular vote.

Results

Dewan Rakyat

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=4 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Party ! colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote ! colspan=3 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Seats , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Won ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , +/– , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , National Front , , BN , , 4,082,411 , , 51.39 , , 140 , , 63.06 , , 58 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , rowspan=14, , style="background-color: #E62020;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Malays National Organisation , , UMNO , , 2,381,725 , , 29.98 , , 79 , , 35.59 , , 30 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #0000FF;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian Chinese Association , , MCA , , 840,489 , , 10.58 , , 15 , , 6.76 , , 16 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FF0000;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian People's Movement Party , , Gerakan , , 184,548 , , 2.32 , , 2 , , 0.90 , , 8 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #29AB87;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Malaysian Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding membe ...

, , MIC , , 179,422 , , 2.26 , , 3 , , 1.35 , , 6 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: red;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Traditional Bumiputera Party , , PBB , , 131,243 , , 1.65 , , 14 , , 6.31 , , 3 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: yellow;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Sarawak United People's Party , , SUPP , , 119,264 , , 1.50 , , 6 , , 2.70 , , , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #00008B;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation , , UPKO , , 58,856 , , 0.74 , , 4 , , 1.80 , , , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FFFF00;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party The Progressive Democratic Party (Malay: Parti Demokratik Progresif, Abbreviation: PDP), formerly known as Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party is a Sarawak based political party in Malaysia founded in 2002. The party was founded in the wake o ...

, , SPDP , , 52,645 , , 0.66 , , 4 , , 1.80 , , , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #ADD8E6;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Sabah Party , , PBS , , 44,885 , , 0.56 , , 3 , , 1.35 , , 1 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: green;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Sarawak People's Party , , PRS , , 33,410 , , 0.42 , , 6 , , 2.70 , , New , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: ;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Sabah Progressive Party The Sabah Progressive Party ( ms, Parti Maju Sabah, abbreviated SAPP) is a multiracial political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. It was registered on 21 January 1994 by dissidents led by former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee from ...

, , SAPP , , 30,827 , , 0.39 , , 2 , , 0.90 , , 2 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #DAA520;" , , style="text-align:left;" , People's Progressive Party , , PPP , , 16,800 , , 0.21 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 1 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FF7F00;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Liberal Democratic Party , , LDP , , 8,297 , , 0.10 , , 1 , , 0.45 , , 1 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FEDF00;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Sabah People's Party , , PBRS , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 1 , , 0.45 , , , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Parties in the informal coalition,

People's Pact The People's Alliance ( ms, Pakatan Rakyat; abbrev: PR) was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP ...

, , PR , , 3,767,781 , , 47.43 , , 82 , , 36.94 , , 62 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party , , PKR , , 1,509,080 , , 19.00 , , 31 , , 13.96 , , 30 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party , , PAS , , 1,140,676 , , 14.36 , , 23 , , 10.36 , , 15 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party , , DAP , , 1,118,025 , , 14.07 , , 28 , , 12.61 , , 17 , - , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" ,

Malaysian People's Party The Malaysian People's Party (abbreviation: PRM; Malay language, Malay: ''Parti Rakyat Malaysia'') is a political party in Malaysia. Founded on 11 November 1955 as Partai Ra'ayat, it is one of the older political parties in Malaysia and traces ...

, , PRM , , 19,126 , , 0.24 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" ,

Sarawak National Party The Sarawak National Party known by its acronym as "SNAP", is now a defunct political party in Malaysia. It was a member party of the Alliance Party from 1963 to 1966 and a member of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from 1976 until its expulsi ...

, , SNAP , , 12,567 , , 0.16 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , , - , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" ,

United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation The United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation ( ms, Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Pasok Nunukragang Bersatu; PASOK) is a regional political party in Malaysia based in the state of Sabah. It was established in 1978. Before its deregistration, it wa ...

, , PASOK , , 1,023 , , 0.01 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , , - , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" ,

Federated Sabah People's Front The Federated Sabah People's Front or Barisan Rakyat Sabah Bersekutu (BERSEKUTU) was a political party based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The party was formed in March 1998 by the former Chief Minister of Sabah, Harris Salleh who wanted to ...

, , BERSEKUTU , , 942 , , 0.01 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , New , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Independents , , IND , , 60,424 , , 0.76 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Valid votes, , 7,944,274 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc;", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Invalid/

blank vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or " none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms ...

s, , 216,765 , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 74.98%) , , 8,161,039 , , 100.00 , , 222 , , 100.00 , , 3 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Did not vote, , 2,761,100 , , rowspan="6" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc;", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Registered voters, , 10,922,139 , - , , , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" , Ordinary voters, , 10,701,054 , - , , , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" , Postal voters, , 221,085 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , 15,283,282 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Malaysian population, , 25,274,133 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=9 , Source: Sin Chew Jit Poh, Malaysia
Source: Nohlen et al

Results by state

Johor

, , MIC , , 1 , , , , , , 1 , , 3.85 , , 0 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FF0000;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian People's Movement Party, , Gerakan, , 1 , , , , , , 1 , , 3.85 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party, , DAP, , , , , , , , 1 , , 3.85 , , +1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: %) , , , , 100.00 , , , , 100.00 , , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Johor's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Kedah

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=4 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Party ! rowspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Candidates ! colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote ! colspan=3 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Seats , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Won ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , +/– , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , National Front, , BN , , 15 , , 318,252 , , 46.84 , , 4 , , 26.67 , , -10 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , rowspan=2, , style="background-color: #E62020;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Malays National Organisation , , UMNO , , 13 , , 280,475 , , 41.28 , , 3 , , 20.00 , , -9 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #0000FF;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian Chinese Association , , MCA , , 2 , , 37,777 , , 5.56 , , 1 , , 6.67 , , -1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 8 , , 185,787 , , 27.34 , , 6 , , 40.00 , , +5 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party, , PKR , , 7 , , 175,430 , , 25.82 , , 5 , , 33.33 , , +5 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , 679,469 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , 17,756 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 79.80%) , , 697,225 , , 100.00 , , 15 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 176,449 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 873,674 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Kedah's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Kelantan

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=4 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Party ! rowspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Candidates ! colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote ! colspan=3 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Seats , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Won ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , +/– , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 11 , , 273,965 , , 45.07 , , 9 , , 64.29 , , +3 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , National Front, , BN , , 14 , , 271,736 , , 44.71 , , 2 , , 14.29 , , -6 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , rowspan=1, , style="background-color: #E62020;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Malays National Organisation , , UMNO , , 14 , , 271,736 , , 44.71 , , 2 , , 14.29 , , -6 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party , , PKR , , 3 , , 60,333 , , 9.93 , , 3 , , 21.43 , , +3 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Independents , , IND , , 1 , , 1,769 , , 0.29 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , 607,803 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , 12,829 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 82.57%) , , 620,632 , , 100.00 , , 14 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 131,050 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 751,682 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Kelantan's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Kuala Lumpur

s, , , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: %) , , , , 100.00 , , , , 100.00 , , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" bgcolor="dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Kuala Lumpur's population, , , - , align=left colspan=10, Source:

Labuan

Malacca

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=4 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Party ! rowspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Candidates ! colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote ! colspan=3 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Seats , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Won ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , +/– , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , National Front, , BN , , 6 , , , , , , 5 , , 83.33 , , -1 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , rowspan=2, , style="background-color: #E62020;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Malays National Organisation , , UMNO , , 4 , , , , , , 4 , , 66.67 , , 0 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #0000FF;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian Chinese Association , , MCA , , 2 , , , , , , 1 , , 16.67 , , -1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party, , DAP, , , , , , , , 1 , , 16.67 , , +1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: %) , , , , 100.00 , , 6 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Malacca's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Negeri Sembilan

, , MIC , , 1 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , -1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party, , DAP, , , , , , , , 2 , , 25.00 , , +2 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party , , PKR , , , , , , , , 1 , , 12.50 , , +1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: %) , , , , 100.00 , , 8 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Negeri Sembilan's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Pahang

, , MIC , , 1 , , , , , , 1 , , 7.14 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party , , PKR , , 6 , , 90,396 , , 20.04 , , 2 , , 14.29 , , +2 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 6 , , 70,811 , , 15.70 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party , , DAP , , 2 , , 21,373 , , 4.74 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , 451,114 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , 13,794 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 77.07%) , , 464,908 , , 100.00 , , 14 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 138,334 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 603,242 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Pahang's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Penang

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=4 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Party ! rowspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Candidates ! colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote ! colspan=3 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Seats , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Won ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , +/– , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party, , DAP, , 7 , , 219,821 , , 40.50 , , 7 , , 53.85 , , +3 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , National Front, , BN , , 13 , , 200,103 , , 36.86 , , 2 , , 15.38 , , -6 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , rowspan=3, , style="background-color: #E62020;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Malays National Organisation , , UMNO , , 5 , , 93,007 , , 17.13 , , 2 , , 15.38 , , -2 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #0000FF;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian Chinese Association , , MCA , , 4 , , 54,377 , , 10.02 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , -1 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FF0000;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian People's Movement Party, , Gerakan, , 4 , , 52,719 , , 9.71 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , -3 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party, , PKR, , 4 , , 93,925 , , 17.30 , , 4 , , 30.77 , , +3 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 2 , , 28,100 , , 5.18 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Independents, , IND, , 1 , , 882 , , 0.16 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , 542,831 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , 11,846 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 78.20%) , , 554,677 , , 100.00 , , 13 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 154,646 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 709,323 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Penang's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Perak

, , MIC , , , , , , , , 1 , , 4.17 , , -1 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #DAA520;" , , style="text-align:left;" , People's Progressive Party, , PPP, , , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , -1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party, , DAP , , 7 , , 189,706 , , 22.52 , , 6 , , 25.00 , , +3 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party, , PKR , , 10 , , 172,455 , , 20.47 , , 3 , , 12.50 , , +3 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 7 , , 87,032 , , 10.33 , , 2 , , 8.33 , , +2 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Independents , , IND , , 2 , , 1,736 , , 0.21 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , 842,390 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , 30,202 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 72.95%) , , 872,592 , , 100.00 , , 24 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 323,568 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 1,196,160 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Perak's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Perlis

s, , 2,325 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 81.22%) , , 97,532 , , 100.00 , , 3 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 22,549 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 120,081 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Perlis's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Putrajaya

Sabah

, , SAPP , , , , , , , , 2 , , 8.00 , , 0 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FEDF00;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Sabah People's Party , , PBRS , , , , , , , , 1 , , 4.00 , , 0 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FF7F00;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Liberal Democratic Party , , LDP , , , , , , , , 1 , , 4.00 , , +1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party , , DAP , , 5 , , , , , , 1 , , 4.00 , , +1 , - , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" ,

, , BERSEKUTU , , 2 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party , , PKR , , 20 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 1 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" ,

, , PASOK, , 3 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Independents , , IND , , 16 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , -1 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: %) , , , , 100.00 , , 25 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Sabah's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Sarawak

, , SPDP , , 4 , , , , , , 4 , , 12.90 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party , , DAP , , , , , , , , 1 , , 3.23 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: %) , , , , 100.00 , , 31 , , 100.00 , , +3 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Sarawak's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Selangor

, , MIC , , 4 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , -4 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , style="background-color: #FF0000;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Malaysian People's Movement Party, , Gerakan, , 1 , , , , , , 0 , , 0.00 , , -1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party , , PKR , , 11 , , 323,005 , , 27.41 , , 9 , , 40.91 , , +9 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 7 , , 171,751 , , 14.57 , , 4 , , 18.18 , , +4 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Action Party, , DAP, , 4 , , 158,364 , , 13.44 , , 4 , , 18.18 , , +4 , - , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" ,

, , PRM , , 1 , , 1,332 , , 0.11 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Independents , , IND , , 1 , , 1,895 , , 0.16 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , 1,178,438 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , 30,235 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 77.21%) , , 1,208,673 , , 100.00 , , 22 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 356,820 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 1,565,493 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Selangor's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

Terengganu

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=4 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Party ! rowspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Candidates ! colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote ! colspan=3 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Seats , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Won ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , +/– , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , National Front, , BN , , 8 , , 239,922 , , 55.11 , , 7 , , 87.50 , , -1 , -style="background:#EFEFEF;" , rowspan=1, , style="background-color: #E62020;" , , style="text-align:left;" , United Malays National Organisation , , UMNO , , 8 , , 239,922 , , 55.11 , , 7 , , 87.50 , , -1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, , PAS , , 6 , , 145,955 , , 33.53 , , 1 , , 12.50 , , +1 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , People's Justice Party, , PKR , , 2 , , 48,786 , , 11.21 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ;" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Independents, , IND , , 1 , , 685 , , 0.16 , , 0 , , 0.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Valid votes, , 435,348 , , rowspan=2 colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Invalid/

s, , 7,857 , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Total votes ( voter turnout: 84.97%) , , 443,205 , , 100.00 , , 8 , , 100.00 , , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Did not vote, , 78,392 , , rowspan="4" colspan="4" style="background-color:#dcdcdc", , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Registered voters, , 521,597 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Voting age population (aged 21 years and above), , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="5" , Terengganu's population, , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=10 , Source:

State Assemblies

Background

Key dates

The Malaysian Parliament was dissolved on 13 February 2008 by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) on the advice of Prime Minister

, from which a general election will be required to be held within the 60 days, between 13 February 2008 and 13 April 2008. The announcement of the dissolution was done a day after the Prime Minister publicly denied that Parliament would be dissolved on 13 February. Speculation on the exact polling date was rife, as political analysts expected polling to be held after the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

on 7 February and during the week-long school holidays from 7 to 16 March, as schools will be available for use as polling stations. Political analysts saw a March election as an attempt by the Prime Minister to garner a fresh

mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also ...

before a slowdown in the global and Malaysian economies, and in an effort to bar

Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...

from contesting, as he is permitted to re-enter politics on 14 April 2008. On 14 February, the

announced nominations would be held on 24 February, with general election set for 8 March. 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.

Issues and public sentiments

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 Hindu Rights Action Force, better known by its acronym HINDRAF ( ms, Barisan Bertindak Hak-Hak Hindu, ta, இந்து உரிமைகள் போராட்டக் குழு, Intu Urimaikaḷ Pōrāṭṭak Kuḻu); is a Hindu-activ ...

, Internal Security Act detainees, the case surrounding the

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. The formati ...

and the eligibility of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri

. 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

and was accused of influencing the Prime Minister when making critical decisions.

Campaigning and strategies

Government

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 Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

, 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 mosques, including a Grand Mosque, 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,

(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.

Opposition

The main Malaysian opposition parties, which are the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (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 The People's Alliance ( ms, Pakatan Rakyat; abbrev: PR) was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) ...

(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

(PASOK). Part of the opposition campaign took place in

cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...

and new media, utilising new technologies such as blogs, 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 2 March, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang challenged Abdullah Badawi to hold a televised debate similar to those held by US 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 4 March, 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.

Allegations of fraud

Previous elections in the country had fuelled complaints that an allegedly subservient

, gerrymandering,

vote fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

, 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 17 March, 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.

Use of indelible ink for voters

On 2 June 2007, the Election Commission made public the proposed use of

indelible ink ''Indelible'' is the fourth book in the Grant County series by author Karin Slaughter. It was originally released in hardback in 2004. Previous books in the series are '' Blindsighted'', ''Kisscut'', and ''A Faint Cold Fear''. These books star Sar ...

to mark participating voters at polling stations, and its use officially confirmed by the commission's chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman on 13 August 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 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 Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua (; born 21 December 1963), is a Malaysian politician who served as Special Advisor to the Minister of Works from March 2019 to February 2020 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Batu from March 2008 to ...

initially remained sceptical unless the EC "implemented the system". Members of BN were more critical, with UMNO secretary-general

Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad Mohd Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad ( Jawi: محمد رضي بن شيخ احمد; born 24 February 1942) is a Malaysian former footballer, lawyer, and politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for the seat of Kangar in Perlis ...

, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan and Gerakan vice-president

Teng Hock Nan Teng may refer to: *Teng (surname) (滕), a Chinese surname *Teng (state), an ancient Chinese state *Teng (mythology), a flying dragon in Chinese mythology *Teng County Teng County or Tengxian (; za, Dwngz Yen) is a county of eastern Guangxi, C ...

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 9 August, the

National Fatwa Council Islam in Malaysia is represented by the Shafi‘i school of Sunni jurisprudence.

declared the ink safe for use, after receiving a lab report from the Chemistry Department of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. On 4 March 2008, four days before polling, the commission announced it was cancelling 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 neighbouring 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 RM2 million having been spent purchasing 47,000 bottles of indelible ink from India, as of 23 February, 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 24 March 2008, the men had not been remanded by a court, nor charged with a crime; their arrest was not publicised. In May, Home Minister

Syed Hamid Albar Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar ( Jawi: سيد حميد بن سيد جعفر البر; ar, سيد حامد بن سيد جعفر البار '; born 15 January 1944) is a Malaysian lawyer and former politician who has served as 1st Chancellor o ...

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 25 November 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.

Incidents

Rusila (Terengganu) riot

Polling day was uneventful except a serious incident in

Rusila Rusila is a village in Marang District, Terengganu, Malaysia. History The settlement was believed to be founded by immigrants from Patani Kingdom, in present-day southern Thailand, during the 19th century. Mosque Rusila is famous as an Islamic le ...

, in Marang constituency in the east coast 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 cards 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 The Malaysian Army ( ms, Tentera Darat Malaysia; Jawi: تنترا دارت مليسيا) is the land component of the Malaysian Armed Forces. Steeped in British Army traditions, the Malaysian Army does not carry the title ‘royal’ () as do t ...

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.

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.

Result commentary

As polls opened in Malaysia on 8 March from 8:00 to 17:00, 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. Political scientists called these elections "stunning elections". 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 (until

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) 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),

(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 Tun Samy Vellu s/o Sangalimuthu ( ta, சாமிவேலு சங்கிலிமுத்து, Cāmivēlu Caṅkilimuttu; 8 March 1936 – 15 September 2022) was a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of Works from June 1983 ...

, Gerakan acting president Koh Tsu Koon and PPP president

M. Kayveas Tan Sri Datuk Seri M. Kayveas ( ta, எம் கேவியஸ், Em kēviyas; born 29 April 1954) is a Malaysian politician. He was also the President of the People's Progressive Party (MyPPP) and formerly a Special Advisor to the former ...

, 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.

Uncontested wins

On the nomination day, 24 February 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 26 February 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 27 February 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 Pensiangan (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 8 September 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 13 March 2009, The Federal Court in Kota Kinabalu overturned an Election Court decision on 8 Sep to strip Pensiangan MP Joseph Kurup of the seat and declare it vacant. Federal Court Judge

Nik Hashim Nik Abdul Rahman Nik is a unisex given name and a short form of most names starting with ''Nik'', derived from Ancient Greek νικη (nike) meaning "victory". It may refer to: People: *Nik Bärtsch (born 1971), Swiss pianist, composer and producer *Nik Bonitto (b ...

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.

State-by-state development

Penang

The opposition dealt a heavy blow to the Barisan Nasional government by taking the state of

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

. 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.

Kedah

The state of Kedah, which along with Penang, has traditionally produced a substantial bulk of past and present BN leaders (including Tunku Abdul Rahman, and

), 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.

Kelantan

PAS retained control of the state of Kelantan, 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 marked the fifth consecutive time PAS retained power in Kelantan since

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

and surpasses PAS's previous record of continuous electoral wins in Kelantan—four between

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Selangor

Being the most developed state of the country and receiving the most absolute benefits due to spillover effects from developing the capital, Kuala Lumpur, 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 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

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.

Perak

, the Barisan Nasional suffered shock losses, including MIC president

's Sungai Siput seat and PPP president

'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.

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is a

federal territory A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...

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.

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 (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 Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monothe ...

of PKR and Prai assemblyman

P. Ramasamy Prof. Dr. P. Ramasamy s/o Palanisamy ( ta, இராமசாமி பழனிசாமி; born 10 May 1949) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang II and Member of the Penang State Executive Counci ...

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 11 March 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 24 March. 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 Mohammad Nizar Jamaludin was to become the next ''Menteri Besar'' of Perak by the Regent of Perak

Raja Nazrin Shah Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-LahAnbalagan, V. (29 May 2014Raja Nazrin proclaimed as the 75th Sultan of Perak The Malaysian Insider. ( Jawi: ; born 27 November 1956) is the 35th and curre ...

. Sitiawan state assemblyperson

Ngeh Koo Ham Dato' Ngeh Koo Ham (, Bàng-uâ-cê: ''Ngà̤ Kō̤-háng''; born 29 September 1961), also known as James Ngeh, is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beruas since March 2008. He served as Spea ...

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),

V. Sivakumar Sivakumar s/o Varatharaju Naidu ( ta, வ. சிவகுமார், Va. Civakumār; born 5 December 1970), better known as V. Sivakumar, is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Human Resources in the Pakatan Harapan (P ...

(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-PKR-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.

Political crisis in Terengganu

The state of Terengganu, 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 Jerteh assemblyman 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 Sultan of Terengganu () is the title of the constitutional head of Terengganu state in Malaysia. The current Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu, is the 18th sultan and 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from 2006 to 2011. He is the head ...

announced that Kijal assemblyman

Ahmad Said Ahmed Said or Ahmad Said may refer to: *Ahmad Said (politician), Malay politician and member of the Legislative Assembly *Ahmed Hassan Said, Egyptian businessman *Ahmed Said (cricketer), Pakistani cricketer *Ahmed Said (footballer), Egyptian footb ...

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

On 10 March, Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai (DAP) mooted the possibility of having mayoral 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.

Penang protests

On 14 March, several hundred protesters from the

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

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 Policy (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 Index (KLCI) and an immediate plunge in the KLCI. On 10 March, 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 The Master of Studies or Master in Studies (M.St. or MSt; ) is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, University of Dublin and the University of Ne ...

), 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 A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

, including

blue chip Blue chip may refer to: * Blue casino token * Blue chip (stock market), a corporation with a national reputation for quality, reliability, and the ability to operate profitably * Blue chip (sports), collegiate athletes who are targeted by professio ...

Sime Darby, (down 50%), UEM World (down 24%), '' Tenaga Nasional'' (down 15%) and the Malaysian Resources Corporation (down 34–39%). By the end of 12 March, the KLCI was able to recoup 60% of its losses, before suffering losses due to unfavourable developments on the ongoing

subprime mortgage crisis The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...

in the US. The value of the

ringgit The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 ''sen'' (formerly ''cents''). The ringgit is issued ...

had also dropped by a little over 1% against the US dollar, trading at RM3.2075 per US dollar on 10 March, 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 Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, eastern and

southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

regions of the Malaysian Peninsula, 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 S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

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.

International reaction

On 9 March, United States

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

spokesman Kurtis Cooper issued a statement that the US government is ready to co-operate 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 was the planned conclusion of stalled Free Trade Agreement negotiations between Malaysia and the US before the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

References

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 Malaysiakini Manifestos
National Front Manifesto

KeADILan Manifesto

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party Manifesto

DAP manifesto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaysian General Election, 2008 *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Results

Dewan Rakyat

Results by state

Johor

Kedah

Kelantan

Kuala Lumpur

Labuan

Malacca

Negeri Sembilan

Pahang

Penang

Perak

Perlis

Putrajaya

Sabah

Sarawak

Selangor

Terengganu

State Assemblies

Background

Key dates

Issues and public sentiments

Campaigning and strategies

Government

Opposition

Allegations of fraud

Use of indelible ink for voters

Incidents

Rusila (Terengganu) riot

Pullout of SAPP from BN

Result commentary

Uncontested wins

Pensiangan

State-by-state development

Penang

Kedah

Kelantan

Selangor

Perak

Kuala Lumpur

Establishment of Opposition-led state governments

Political crisis in Terengganu

Proposed return of elected Kuala Lumpur mayors

Penang protests

Economy

International reaction

See also

Further reading

References

External links