2018 Malaysian general election
The 2018 Malaysian general election was conducted on 9 May 2018 to elect all 222 members of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Malaysian Parliament, alongside state assembly seats in 12 of the 13 states.[1][2] The opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan (PH), comprising the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), National Trust Party (Amanah), and bolstered by the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), achieved a narrow majority with 113 seats, ousting the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that had governed continuously since independence in 1957.[3][1] This outcome marked the first peaceful transfer of power between coalitions in Malaysian history, with 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, leader of PH and former prime minister, sworn in as the new prime minister, defeating incumbent Najib Razak of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)-led BN.[2][4] The election occurred amid heightened public discontent driven by economic pressures, including rising living costs and the fallout from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal, which implicated Najib in allegations of embezzlement totaling billions, though he denied wrongdoing.[5] BN secured 79 seats, while other parties like the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) gained 18, reflecting a fragmented opposition landscape prior to PH's consolidation under Mahathir's unlikely alliance with rivals including Anwar Ibrahim's PKR.[3] Voter turnout reached approximately 82.6%, with PH's success attributed to its appeal across ethnic lines, particularly swaying enough Malay voters despite BN's traditional dominance in rural and bumiputera-majority areas.[1][6] This seismic shift prompted immediate reforms, including the abolition of the Goods and Services Tax and investigations into 1MDB, underscoring the election's role in challenging entrenched patronage networks and institutional biases favoring the incumbent coalition through gerrymandered constituencies and media control.[7][5] However, PH's coalition fragility was evident, as internal tensions and unmet promises contributed to its eventual downfall in subsequent political crises, highlighting the causal limits of anti-corruption momentum without sustained structural changes.[8]Historical and Political Context
Dominance of Barisan Nasional and Prior Elections
The Alliance Party, a multi-ethnic coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) alongside the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), formed the basis of continuous ruling dominance in Malaysia following independence on August 31, 1957.[9] This coalition won decisive majorities in the inaugural post-independence parliamentary election on August 19, 1959, capturing 74 of 104 seats, and maintained control through subsequent polls by balancing ethnic interests while prioritizing Malay political primacy.[10] Reconstituted as Barisan Nasional (BN) in 1973 after the 1969 racial riots to broaden its base with additional parties, the alliance preserved its hegemony by governing all 13 general elections up to 2013, leveraging a patronage system that distributed resources along ethnic lines.[11] Central to BN's electoral success was the New Economic Policy (NEP), launched in 1971 under Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein, which institutionalized affirmative action for Bumiputera (Malays and indigenous groups) to rectify colonial-era economic imbalances.[12] The NEP targeted 30% Bumiputera ownership of corporate equity and prioritized quotas in education, employment, and contracts, fostering rapid industrialization and poverty reduction from 49% in 1970 to under 5% by 2013, while cementing UMNO's appeal to the rural Malay heartland comprising over 60% of the electorate.[13] Despite delivering average annual GDP growth exceeding 6% from the 1970s through the 2000s, the policy entrenched crony networks, as state-linked enterprises dominated key sectors, breeding perceptions of rent-seeking that alienated urban middle classes over time.[14] BN's supermajority eroded in the March 8, 2008, election, where it secured 140 of 222 Dewan Rakyat seats—below the 148 needed for constitutional amendments—marking the first such loss since 1969 and dubbed a "political tsunami."[15] The opposition's nascent Pakatan Rakyat alliance (uniting Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Democratic Action Party, and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) capitalized on unified campaigns against perceived authoritarianism, capturing 82 seats and control of five state legislatures, driven by shifts among urban non-Malay voters and disillusioned suburban Malays amid inflation and subsidy cuts.[16] By the May 5, 2013, poll, BN clung to a slimmer 133 seats against Pakatan Rakyat's 89, retaining power with just 47% of the popular vote despite gerrymandered rural advantages, as opposition gains in urban constituencies highlighted deepening divides over inequality and governance opacity despite sustained economic expansion.[17][18] These incremental reversals stemmed from demographic transitions, with urbanization swelling non-rural voters to over 70% by 2013, amplifying demands for merit-based reforms over ethnic quotas.[19]Emergence of Opposition Coalitions and 1MDB Scandal
The opposition landscape shifted significantly ahead of the 2018 election with the consolidation of Pakatan Harapan (PH), a coalition formed by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).[20] Bersatu, founded in 2016 by Mahathir Mohamad after his departure from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), provided a platform to rally Malay voters disillusioned with Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership.[21] Mahathir, who had served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and mentored Najib Razak, assumed the role of PH chairman in 2017, positioning himself as the alliance's prime ministerial candidate to exploit personal and systemic grievances against the incumbent.[22] Central to BN's eroding legitimacy was the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, where over $4.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated from the state investment fund established in 2009 under Najib's oversight.[23] Investigations by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and other agencies traced illicit flows, including nearly $700 million deposited into Najib's personal accounts between 2011 and 2013, funds linked to bond sales and donations but substantiated as graft proceeds through forensic analysis of transactions involving financier Jho Low.[24] The DOJ's civil forfeiture actions recovered hundreds of millions in assets tied to 1MDB, with complaints detailing bribes and embezzlement that prioritized personal enrichment over national development.[25] Malaysian authorities later charged Najib with corruption and money laundering related to these inflows, confirming the scandal's domestic ramifications.[23] Economic fallout amplified the scandal's impact, as 1MDB accumulated approximately $11 billion in debt by 2015, prompting fiscal measures like the April 1, 2015, introduction of a 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) to bolster revenues amid perceptions of bailout necessities.[26] Critics, including opposition figures, argued the GST effectively subsidized 1MDB shortfalls, fueling public resentment over rising living costs without corresponding benefits.[27] These pressures, rooted in verifiable fiscal strain rather than abstract ideology, drove voter motivations, evidenced by PH gains in over 90 Malay-majority seats where BN had historically dominated, undermining narratives framing the opposition as a threat to Bumiputera privileges.[28][29] This empirical shift highlighted accountability demands as a causal driver of BN's vulnerability.Electoral System and Framework
The 2018 Malaysian general election operated under a first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system for the 222 single-member constituencies of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, as well as for concurrent state legislative assembly elections across Malaysia's 13 states and three federal territories.[30][31] In this winner-take-all framework, the candidate receiving the plurality of votes in each constituency secures the seat, with no proportional representation mechanism to allocate seats based on overall vote shares, thereby magnifying the impact of narrow victories and regional strongholds.[30][32] Constituency boundaries, determined through periodic delimitation by the Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR, or Election Commission of Malaysia), had last been substantially redrawn during exercises conducted between 2003 and 2005, resulting in significant malapportionment that disadvantaged urban constituencies.[33] Rural seats, often with electorates numbering around 30,000 to 50,000 voters, contrasted sharply with urban ones exceeding 100,000, creating disparities where some urban districts held two to three times more voters than rural counterparts, systematically amplifying rural influence despite population shifts toward cities.[34][35] The SPR, established under Article 114 of the Federal Constitution, holds responsibility for maintaining constituency maps, compiling the electoral roll, and overseeing polling logistics, though its delimitation processes have been critiqued for embedding structural biases favoring less populous, predominantly Malay rural areas.[36] Voter eligibility required Malaysian citizenship, attainment of 21 years of age, and residency within a constituency, with participation contingent on inclusion in the SPR-maintained electoral roll through prior manual registration.[37][35] The absence of automatic registration until post-2018 reforms meant that unregistered eligible citizens—estimated in the millions—were effectively disenfranchised, while the roll's compilation process occasionally included outdated or deceased entries, though SPR purges aimed to address this.[38] Overseas voting was restricted to postal ballots for approximately 900,000 Malaysians abroad who had pre-registered with the SPR and applied specifically for the election, a mechanism introduced more broadly for the 2018 polls but hampered by tight deadlines and logistical barriers requiring ballots to be returned physically or via designated channels.[39][40] This limited access underscored the FPTP system's emphasis on domestic constituencies, where malapportionment and winner-take-all rules could decisively shape outcomes despite broader demographic trends.Pre-Election Preparations
Announcement of Election Date and Costs
Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the dissolution of the 13th Parliament on 6 April 2018, seeking the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's consent, which was granted and gazetted on 9 April, initiating the constitutional timeline for general elections within 60 days.[41][42] The Election Commission announced on 10 April that polling would occur on 9 May, a Wednesday, prompting Najib to declare it a nationwide public holiday following public outcry over midweek scheduling potentially hindering voter turnout.[43][44] This compressed the campaign into a 30-day window from dissolution to polling—the minimum allowed under Article 55 of the Constitution—allowing limited time for candidate nominations, voter education, and mobilization efforts.[45] The timetable included nomination day on 28 April, when candidates submitted papers at designated centers, and early voting on 5 May for overseas Malaysians, police, military personnel, and absent voters conducted via postal or advance ballots.[46] Polling stations operated from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 9 May using manual paper ballots, with results compilation delayed overnight due to hand-counting in 222 federal constituencies and simultaneous state assemblies, leading to official announcements only in the early morning of 10 May amid razor-thin margins in key races.[47] The federal election's official cost was estimated at RM500 million, covering logistics, personnel, and materials for over 14.9 million registered voters, with additional undisclosed expenses for 10 concurrent state elections pushing the overall tally higher.[48] Under the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981, parliamentary candidates were capped at RM200,000 in spending, while state assembly candidates faced RM100,000 limits, though enforcement proved difficult amid documented instances of unreported cash distributions, lavish events, and inducements that observers linked to incumbency advantages and weak oversight mechanisms.[49][45]Political Parties, Leaders, and Coalitions
The incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, comprising 13 component parties dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), was led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who served as UMNO president and BN chairman.620237_EN.pdf) Najib had assumed leadership in 2009 amid internal UMNO factionalism, but faced challenges from scandals that eroded BN's cohesion, prompting some incumbents linked to graft allegations to withdraw candidacies. Pakatan Harapan (PH), a reformist opposition alliance formed in 2015 and formalized in 2018, included four main parties: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu, chaired by Mahathir Mohamad), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR, led by imprisoned de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim), Democratic Action Party (DAP), and Parti Amanah Negara. Mahathir, aged 92 and a former prime minister, headed PH as chairman and prime ministerial candidate, with a manifesto pledging Anwar's release and succession upon a royal pardon.[2] This cross-ethnic pact bridged historical divides, including Mahathir's past rivalry with Anwar, but strained relations with conservative Malay elements due to DAP's prominence.[21] The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), emphasizing Islamist policies, contested independently after departing the prior Pakatan Rakyat coalition in 2015 over hudud law disputes, fielding candidates primarily in Malay-majority areas and allying informally with non-contesting arrangements in some seats.[21] In Sabah, Parti Warisan Sabah, founded by Shafie Apdal—a former UMNO minister ousted over anti-Najib dissent—emerged as a regional force, drawing support from local dissatisfaction with federal interference.[50] These dynamics fragmented opposition votes in key demographics, highlighting tensions between ethnic-based mobilization and broader reform appeals.Key Campaign Issues and Strategies
The 1MDB scandal dominated campaign discourse, with opposition leaders accusing Prime Minister Najib Razak of embezzling billions from the state investment fund, eroding public trust in Barisan Nasional (BN) governance.[51] Pakatan Harapan (PH) pledged to recover misappropriated funds and prosecute perpetrators as core manifesto commitments, framing the election as a referendum on corruption.[52] BN countered by emphasizing economic stability under its long rule, highlighting infrastructure projects and poverty reduction achieved since independence, while downplaying scandal allegations as politically motivated.[53] Economic pressures, including household debt exceeding 80% of GDP and youth unemployment at 10.9%, amplified voter discontent, particularly among urban and young demographics.[54] PH's "Buku Harapan" manifesto promised abolishing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), raising the minimum wage to RM1,500, and eliminating highway tolls within 100 days to alleviate living costs.[55] BN responded with targeted aid like cash transfers to low-income households and education subsidies, defending the GST as necessary for fiscal health despite its unpopularity.[56] These pledges reflected causal links between stagnant wages, rising costs, and electoral mobilization, contributing to record turnout of 82.2%.[57] BN's strategy centered on preserving Malay privileges under Article 153 of the Constitution, portraying PH's Democratic Action Party (DAP) component—predominantly ethnic Chinese—as a threat to bumiputera rights and Islamic values.[58] This appeal to ethnic fears aimed to consolidate rural Malay support in states like Johor, where urban-rural divides influenced swings. PH countered with a narrative of national unity, symbolized by the improbable alliance between Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim, positioning Mahathir as an anti-corruption elder statesman to transcend generational and partisan divides.[59] PH's focus on institutional reforms, such as separating the Attorney General's roles and ensuring press freedom, targeted disillusioned middle-class voters prioritizing governance over ethnic mobilization.[52]Opinion Polls and Voter Sentiment
Pre-election opinion polls reflected a narrowing gap between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH), with BN's support eroding from highs in late 2017 to around 40% in Peninsular Malaysia by April 2018, amid persistent fallout from the 1MDB scandal that eroded public trust in Prime Minister Najib Razak's leadership.[60] A Merdeka Center survey conducted April 14–20, 2018, among 1,007 registered voters in the peninsula indicated an 8% swing in Malay support toward PH compared to 2013 levels, with BN retaining 58% Malay backing versus PH's 28%, while non-Malays overwhelmingly favored PH at 81% to BN's 10%; overall, this projected BN securing 82–92 parliamentary seats in the peninsula, sufficient for a federal majority when including East Malaysia.[60] Earlier polls, such as those in 2017, had shown BN approval ratings dipping below 50% following scandal disclosures, marking a low point before a partial recovery that failed to offset PH's gains.[61] The leadership of Mahathir Mohamad, a former prime minister re-entering opposition politics, generated a notable "Mahathir effect," enhancing PH's legitimacy among moderate voters skeptical of younger leaders like Anwar Ibrahim, particularly by framing the contest as a restoration of institutional integrity against corruption.[6] This dynamic boosted PH momentum in urban constituencies, where non-Malay voters—Chinese and Indians—demonstrated near-unanimous opposition sentiment driven by economic grievances and perceived cronyism under BN.[62] In contrast, rural Malay areas showed tighter races, with BN leveraging identity-based appeals to maintain a core base, though surveys captured growing disillusionment tied to unfulfilled promises on living costs and governance transparency.[60] Poll limitations were evident, as most forecasts anticipated a BN retention of power or at best a hung parliament, underestimating the scale of PH's eventual 113-seat victory; factors included potential respondent reluctance to disclose opposition preferences in BN-dominated rural samples and the influence of state-controlled media, which amplified pro-BN narratives and may have skewed public sentiment reporting.[63] Independent pollsters like Merdeka Center, despite methodological rigor via random sampling, struggled to fully capture late-campaign shifts, highlighting challenges in hybrid regimes where fear of reprisal or social desirability bias suppresses anti-incumbent expression.[63] Actual results aligned closely with popular vote estimates—BN at 33.8% nationwide—but deviated sharply on seat outcomes due to malapportionment favoring rural strongholds.[64]Election Conduct
Gerrymandering and Malapportionment Allegations
Prior to the 2018 general election, allegations of malapportionment and gerrymandering centered on the Election Commission's redelineation of constituency boundaries, which critics argued systematically favored Barisan Nasional (BN) by overweighting rural and semi-rural areas where BN held strong support among Malay voters.[65][66] Malapportionment was evident in stark disparities in electorate sizes: rural constituencies averaged approximately 25,000 to 30,000 registered voters, compared to 70,000 to 80,000 or more in urban seats, resulting in a votes-to-seats ratio that amplified rural voices by roughly 30% relative to urban ones and effectively prioritized Malay-majority areas.[67][68] This structure, entrenched since independence, deviated from equitable representation principles, with the largest-to-smallest constituency ratio exceeding 4:1 in some analyses, though constitutional allowances for rural weightage up to 15% were exceeded in practice.[69] Gerrymandering claims focused on boundary manipulations that concentrated opposition-leaning urban and non-Malay voters into fewer, oversized seats while carving out smaller, pro-BN rural districts, including proposed 2016-2018 redelineations in states like Selangor that opposition parties alleged packed dissenters and cracked competitive areas to bolster BN incumbents.[69][65] These exercises, conducted under BN control of the Election Commission, were accused of lacking transparency and independence, with rapid implementation ahead of the polls seen as an incumbent advantage.[66] Opposition coalitions, including Pakatan Harapan (PH), filed legal challenges, such as Selangor's suit questioning the constitutionality of the redelineations for violating equality clauses in the Federal Constitution, but courts dismissed them pre-election, upholding the Commission's discretion under Article 113.[69] Empirically, the biases translated to disproportionate seat outcomes: in the 2013 election, BN secured 60% of seats (133 of 222) with only 47% of the popular vote, a premium attributable to malapportionment and gerrymandering that rewarded its rural base.[67] In 2018, similar distortions persisted, yet PH overcame them to win 113 seats with approximately 48% of votes, while BN took 79 seats on 34%, demonstrating that boundary advantages could not fully insulate against widespread anti-incumbency driven by the 1MDB scandal and economic grievances.[66] Post-election analyses, such as those by political scientist Kai Ostwald, quantify the partisan bias as substantial but ultimately insufficient, attributing BN's defeat more to voter mobilization shifts in semi-urban mixed-ethnicity seats than to boundary failures alone, underscoring the limits of institutional rigging amid acute public disillusionment.[66][67]Procedural Controversies
The Election Commission scheduled polling for Wednesday, 9 May 2018, a midweek date that drew widespread criticism for potentially suppressing turnout, especially among urban workers and opposition supporters in states like Johor where cross-border commuting is common.[70][71] Opponents argued the unusual timing disadvantaged wage earners unable to take leave, though the government responded by declaring the day a nationwide public holiday following public backlash.[72] Despite these concerns, voter turnout reached 82.66 percent, surpassing previous elections and indicating minimal suppression in practice.[2] Overseas postal voting, newly implemented for the election, encountered significant administrative obstacles, with an estimated 300,000 Malaysian expatriates expressing interest but facing strict registration deadlines set in January 2018 and verification requirements that resulted in low approval rates—reportedly under 10 percent of applicants successfully voting.[40][73] Critics attributed the high rejection rate to deliberate hurdles by the Election Commission, though officials cited compliance with legal timelines and incomplete documentation as the primary causes, limiting expatriate influence on the outcome.[74] Allegations of vote-buying centered on Barisan Nasional's pre-election expansion of cash assistance programs, including RM6.3 billion disbursed to over 7 million recipients via initiatives like BR1M aid enhancements announced in early 2018.[75][76] Opposition figures and post-election analyses labeled these distributions—totaling billions since mid-2017—as inducements timed to sway voters, with one report documenting 46 bribery incidents and 196 gift distributions linked to BN campaigns.[77][78] BN leaders countered that the handouts fulfilled longstanding welfare commitments unrelated to electoral gains, though the proximity to polling fueled perceptions of impropriety without conclusive proof of outcome-altering scale.[75][79] Result announcements faced delays, with official tallies withheld until after midnight on 10 May despite early opposition claims of victory, prompting speculation of interference amid reports of polling station disruptions.[80][81] The Election Commission attributed the lag to manual vote counting, verification protocols, and high volume across 222 constituencies, a process unchanged from prior elections; independent reviews found no systemic manipulation sufficient to reverse the opposition's parliamentary majority.[82][83] Isolated irregularities, such as indelible ink adhesion failures in select stations necessitating re-voting for thousands, were addressed on-site but did not indicate coordinated fraud.[79]Role of Media, Endorsements, and Observers
Mainstream media in Malaysia, including state-controlled outlets such as Bernama and Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), along with pro-government newspapers like Utusan Malaysia, demonstrated pronounced bias toward the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition throughout the campaign period leading to the 9 May 2018 election.[84] Coverage disproportionately favored BN leaders, emphasizing their achievements and portraying opposition figures, including Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Mahathir Mohamad, in a negative light, while restricting opposition access to broadcast time and print space.[85] This alignment stemmed from longstanding government influence over licensing, ownership, and editorial control, which limited critical reporting on issues like the 1MDB scandal.[86] In response, PH and allied opposition parties heavily utilized social media platforms, particularly Facebook, to bypass these restrictions and reach underserved demographics such as urban youth and semi-rural voters with improved internet access.[87] This approach enabled rapid dissemination of alternative viewpoints, including exposés on alleged corruption, amassing millions of interactions and countering mainstream narratives effectively among digitally savvy segments of the electorate.[88] Social media's role was amplified by smartphone penetration, serving as a tool for grassroots mobilization and real-time fact-checking, though it also facilitated unverified claims and polarization.[85] Endorsements remained largely implicit through media alignment, with few explicit public statements from traditional power centers like the Malay rulers, who maintained constitutional neutrality but occasionally voiced concerns over fiscal mismanagement in the lead-up to polling. Domestic civil society groups, including Bersih, refrained from partisan endorsements but advocated for electoral integrity. Internationally, entities such as the United States Department of State urged adherence to democratic standards without formal backing of candidates.[57] Election observers, primarily domestic under the PEMANTAU coalition led by Bersih, mobilized approximately 12,000 volunteers across 20,000 polling streams to oversee the 9 May process. Their comprehensive report highlighted procedural flaws, including 1,279 incidents of potential vote-buying, misuse of government vehicles for campaigning, and failures in indelible ink application at select stations, alongside undue influence from state resources.[45] Despite these issues, observers concluded the election was conducted peacefully with high voter turnout—over 82%—and that outcomes genuinely captured public will, crediting robust participation and minimal violence for overall legitimacy. Malaysia declined invitations for international observer missions, citing sovereignty, though pre-election statements from bodies like the Commonwealth and EU emphasized transparency without on-ground presence.[45] Allegations of foreign funding to BN, including unverified claims of Saudi Arabian inflows tied to 1MDB asset recoveries, circulated during the campaign but yielded no concrete evidence of substantial electoral interference or vote sway. Investigations post-election focused on prior transfers, such as those probed by Swiss authorities totaling up to $7 billion through 1MDB channels, but these did not demonstrably alter 2018 dynamics.[89][90]Results
Federal Parliament Outcomes
Pakatan Harapan (PH) won 113 of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, securing a simple majority to form the federal government.[91][3] Barisan Nasional (BN) obtained 79 seats, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) 18 seats, and other parties and independents accounted for the remaining 12 seats.[92]| Coalition/Party | Seats Won | Popular Vote Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pakatan Harapan | 113 | 48.8% |
| Barisan Nasional | 79 | 33.6% |
| PAS | 18 | 14.9% |
| Others | 12 | 2.7% |
State Legislative Results
Pakatan Harapan (PH) secured significant gains in the state assemblies, winning outright majorities in Penang (37 of 40 seats), Selangor (51 of 56 seats), and Negeri Sembilan (all 36 seats), while forming a government in Perak with 29 of 59 seats after obtaining support from independents to surpass Barisan Nasional's (BN) 27 seats. These victories reflected PH's strength in urban and multi-ethnic areas, where anti-corruption sentiment and economic grievances against the incumbent BN government drove turnout above 84% in states like Penang and Selangor.[94][95] In contrast, PAS achieved clean sweeps in Terengganu (32 of 32 seats) and retained dominance in Kelantan (42 of 45 seats), while capturing Kedah (33 of 36 seats) from BN, capitalizing on conservative Malay voter consolidation in rural northeastern states amid three-way contests that split opposition votes. BN held onto Johor (40 of 56 seats), Malacca (19 of 28 seats), Pahang (29 of 42 seats), and Perlis (12 of 15 seats), relying on traditional rural Malay support and gerrymandered districts favoring incumbents, though with reduced margins compared to 2013. Turnout in these BN-retained states hovered around 80-82%, lower than in PH strongholds, indicating weaker mobilization among their base.[94][95] Sabah's 60-seat assembly ended in a hung parliament, with Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) taking the plurality at 21 seats, followed by BN's 29; Warisan formed a coalition government with PH allies and independents, highlighting local nativist appeals over federal alignments. Sarawak did not hold state elections, preserving BN's pre-existing control amid its autonomous status under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, which insulated it from peninsular shifts. Overall, across the 423 contested state seats (excluding Sarawak), PH claimed 154, BN 146, PAS 56, Warisan 21, and others the balance, demonstrating PH's uneven penetration limited by ethnic polarization and regional autonomy in East Malaysia.[96][95][97]| Coalition/Party | Total Seats Won |
|---|---|
| Pakatan Harapan | 154 |
| Barisan Nasional | 146 |
| PAS | 56 |
| Warisan | 21 |
| Others/Independents | 46 |