1978 Malaysian general election

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1978 Malaysian general election
Flag of Malaysia.svg
  1974 8–22 July 1978 1982  

All 154 seats in the Dewan Rakyat
78 seats needed for a majority
Registered5,059,689
Turnout75.30%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Tun Hussein Onn potrait (cropped-1-closeup).jpg Lim Kit Siang (3to4).jpg Mohammad Asri bin Muda.jpg
Leader Hussein Onn Lim Kit Siang Asri Muda
Party BN DAP PAS
Last election60.81%, 135 seats18.32%, 9 seats13 seats
Seats won130165
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 5Increase2.svg 7Decrease2.svg 8
Popular vote1,987,907664,433537,720
Percentage57.23%19.13%15.58%
SwingDecrease2.svg3.58ppIncrease2.svg0.81pp

Prime Minister before election

Hussein Onn
BN

Prime Minister-designate

Hussein Onn
BN

General elections were held in Malaysia between Saturday, 8 July and Saturday, 22 July 1978. [1] Voting took place in all 154 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 276 state constituencies (except Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak) on the same day.

Contents

It was Hussein Onn's first and only election since he became the country's third Prime Minister in 1976. His Barisan Nasional Party emerged victorious with 131 of the 154 seats in Parliament. Voter turnout was 75.3%.

Results

As expected, Barisan Nasional comfortably maintained its majority in the Malaysian Parliament and thus, gave the Prime Minister the power to form a government with a free hand. Despite the victory, BN actually lost four seats out of 154 seats to the opposition.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) withdrew from BN in the midst of the 1977 Kelantan Emergency over disagreements with UMNO over the running of the state government of Kelantan, which PAS had controlled since the first post-independence general election in 1959. With the support of UMNO, detractors within PAS split with the party and formed the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Front (BERJASA). In the election, PAS lost the control of the state for the first time to the UMNO-BERJASA alliance within BN and keeping administration by BN for 12 years until 1990. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has been credited for UMNO's victory in Kelantan.

The opposition garnered 42.8% of total votes. In spite of that, the opposition as one won only 23 seats. Democratic Action Party won the largest slice of the pie among the opposition parties and hence, its leader Lim Kit Siang retained his position as the leader of the opposition that he had obtained four years earlier.

Candidates were returned unopposed in nine constituencies. The registered electors from these constituencies therefore did not cast ballots.

Dewan Rakyat 1978 (blocs).svg
Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 1,987,90757.2369+7
Malaysian Chinese Association 17–2
Sabah People's United Front 9New
Sarawak National Party 90
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu 80
Sarawak United Peoples' Party 6–1
United Sabah National Organisation 5–8
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 4–1
Malaysian Indian Congress 3–1
People's Progressive Party 0–1
Total130–5
Democratic Action Party 664,43319.1316+7
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 537,72015.485–8
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak 35,0091.010New
Malaysian Social Justice Party 23,7920.680–1
Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia 22,0310.6300
Social Democratic Party 13,7880.400New
Sarawak People's Organisation 10,1500.291New
Social United Association Party5,5940.160New
Sabah Democratic People's Party4,4910.130New
Parti Umat Sarawak3,8980.110New
Malaysian Workers' Party 1,7310.050New
Sabah Chinese Association 1,3050.040–3
Sarawak People's National Party 8610.020New
Homeland Consciousness Union3500.0100
Independents160,3704.622+1
Total3,473,430100.001540
Valid votes3,473,43096.57
Invalid/blank votes123,3023.43
Total votes3,596,732100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,776,36175.30
Source: Nohlen et al. CLEA, Thambipillai

By state

Johore

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 330,23377.31110
Malaysian Chinese Association 4-1
Total15-1
Democratic Action Party 64,38515.071+1
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 32,5127.6100
Total427,130100.00160
Valid votes427,13095.90
Invalid/blank votes18,2834.10
Total votes445,413100.00
Registered voters/turnout572,44777.81

Kedah

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 197,86557.109+1
Malaysian Chinese Association 20
Total11+1
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 137,40039.652-1
Democratic Action Party 2,8280.8200
Independents8,4102.4300
Total346,503100.00130
Valid votes346,50397.17
Invalid/blank votes10,0992.83
Total votes356,602100.00
Registered voters/turnout461,29077.31

Kelantan

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 143,16156.4110+5
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 110,62043.592-5
Total253,781100.00120
Valid votes253,78198.99
Invalid/blank votes2,6001.01
Total votes256,381100.00
Registered voters/turnout340,14175.37

Kuala Lumpur

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Democratic Action Party 101,30654.983+1
Barisan Nasional Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 27,90815.151+1
Malaysian Indian Congress 18,2399.900–1
United Malays National Organisation 10
Total46,14725.0520
Malaysian Social Justice Party 17,9889.760–1
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 12,0066.5200
Malaysian Workers' Party 1,7310.940New
Independents5,0722.7500
Total184,250100.0050
Valid votes184,25098.97
Invalid/blank votes1,9101.03
Total votes186,160100.00
Registered voters/turnout261,78371.11

Malacca

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 59,18855.6820
Malaysian Chinese Association 10
Total30
Democratic Action Party 34,57632.5310
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 12,53611.7900
Total106,300100.0040
Valid votes106,30096.00
Invalid/blank votes4,4284.00
Total votes110,728100.00
Registered voters/turnout141,84178.06

Negri Sembilan

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 81,67157.6130
Malaysian Chinese Association 10
Malaysian Indian Congress 10
Total50
Democratic Action Party 41,73629.4410
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 11,2177.9100
Independents7,1515.0400
Total141,775100.0060
Valid votes141,77595.36
Invalid/blank votes6,9064.64
Total votes148,681100.00
Registered voters/turnout190,37978.10

Pahang

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 123,59366.836-1
Malaysian Chinese Association 2+1
Total80
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 34,15618.4700
Democratic Action Party 16,3548.8400
Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia 6,4413.4800
Independents4,3842.3700
Total184,928100.0080
Valid votes184,92895.21
Invalid/blank votes9,2974.79
Total votes194,225100.00
Registered voters/turnout258,02475.27

Penang

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 138,17347.122-1
Malaysian Chinese Association 1-2
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 1-2
Total4-5
Democratic Action Party 79,91827.264+4
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 31,66710.801+1
Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia 10,0443.4300
Social Democratic Party 13,7884.7000
Homeland Consciousness Union3500.1200
Independents19,2806.5800
Total293,220100.0090
Valid votes293,22096.60
Invalid/blank votes10,3213.40
Total votes303,541100.00
Registered voters/turnout383,13479.23

Perak

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 293,56353.5010-1
Malaysian Chinese Association 3+1
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 20
Malaysian Indian Congress 10
Barisan Nasional 10
People's Progressive Party 0-1
Total17-1
Democratic Action Party 200,54736.5540
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 52,6559.600-1
Malaysian Social Justice Party 3420.0600
Independents1,5640.2900
Total548,671100.00210
Valid votes548,67196.29
Invalid/blank votes21,1273.71
Total votes569,798100.00
Registered voters/turnout736,96377.32

Perlis

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 30,76260.7520
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 16,97333.5200
Independents2,9065.7400
Total50,641100.0020
Valid votes50,64195.78
Invalid/blank votes2,2324.22
Total votes52,873100.00
Registered voters/turnout68,57277.11

Sabah

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional Sabah People's United Front 94,22551.838New
United Sabah National Organisation 5–8
Total14-8
Democratic Action Party 11,7336.451+1
Social United Association Party5,5943.080New
Sabah Democratic People's Party4,4912.470New
Sabah Chinese Association 1,3050.720–3
Malaysian Social Justice Party 9210.5100
Independents63,51534.942+2
Total181,784100.00160
Valid votes181,78496.97
Invalid/blank votes5,6823.03
Total votes187,466100.00
Registered voters/turnout282,36966.39

Sarawak

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu 52,22220.3880
Sarawak National Party 45,21817.6490
Sarawak United Peoples' Party 64,09925.016-1
Total161,53963.0323-1
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak 35,00913.660New
Sarawak People's Organisation 10,1503.961New
Parti Umat Sarawak3,8981.520New
Sarawak People's National Party 8610.340New
Independents44,83117.4900
Total256,288100.00240
Valid votes256,28896.49
Invalid/blank votes9,3243.51
Total votes265,612100.00
Registered voters/turnout385,34568.93

Selangor

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 212,06557.566+1
Malaysian Chinese Association 3-1
Malaysian Indian Congress 10
Total100
Democratic Action Party 111,05030.1410
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 36,6159.9400
Malaysian Social Justice Party 4,5411.2300
Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia 9020.2400
Independents3,2570.8800
Total368,430100.00110
Valid votes368,43096.18
Invalid/blank votes14,6233.82
Total votes383,053100.00
Registered voters/turnout515,49774.31

Trengganu

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 75,72258.377+3
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 49,36338.050-3
Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia 4,6443.5800
Total129,729100.0070
Valid votes129,72995.32
Invalid/blank votes6,3674.68
Total votes136,096100.00
Registered voters/turnout178,57676.21

See also

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p152 ISBN   0-19-924959-8