2004 Malaysian general election

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2004 Malaysian general election
Flag of Malaysia.svg
  1999 21 March 2004 2008  

All 219 seats in the Dewan Rakyat
110 seats needed for a majority
Registered9,755,097 (Increase2.svg 2.19%)
Turnout72.95% (Increase2.svg 1.76pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in New Delhi on December 20, 2004.jpg Kerk Kim Hock.jpg Majlis pelancaran pembangunan Kompleks PAS Melaka 38 (Abdul Hadi Awang).jpg
Leader Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Kerk Kim Hock Abdul Hadi Awang
Party BN DAP BA
Last election56.52%, 148 seats12.74%, 10 seats40.28%, 42 seats
Seats won198128
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 50Increase2.svg 2Decrease2.svg 34
Popular vote4,437,919687,3501,672,350
Percentage63.82%9.88%24.05%
SwingIncrease2.svg 7.30ppDecrease2.svg 2.86ppDecrease2.svg 16.23pp

Malaysia election results map 2004.svg
Results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
BN

Prime Minister-designate

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
BN

General elections were held in Malaysia on Sunday, 21 March 2004. Voting took place in all 219 parliamentary constituencies, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. They were the first elections for Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister following his appointment in 2003. State elections also took place in 505 state constituencies in twelve of the thirteen states (except Sarawak) on the same day, which also marked the first time Sabah held its state election parallel with the other states of Peninsular Malaysia.

Contents

The result was a victory for the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which received 64% of the vote (and would have gained a higher vote had all seats been contested) and won 198 seats to the combined opposition parties' 20 seats, with one independent. This was the largest majority that BN had won since 1978. The dominant party in BN, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), won 109 seats, a gain of 37. UMNO's allies also gained seats; the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) won 31 seats, a gain of two, and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) won nine seats, a gain of two.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) managed to retain only seven of its 27 seats. PAS ran on a platform promising an Islamic state, which turned off many moderate voters. In addition, the PAS leader, Abdul Hadi Awang, lost his parliamentary seat. Another opposition party, the People's Justice Party (PKR), lost four of its five seats. After five recounts, the party's leader, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (the wife of imprisoned former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim), retained her seat with a majority of just 590 votes.

The third opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which was routed in the 1999 elections, improved its performance with the re-election of party chairman Lim Kit Siang in Ipoh Timor seat and his deputy, Karpal Singh in Bukit Gelugor seat although party secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock lost his seat. The DAP won 12 seats and regained the official leadership of the opposition in the national parliament from PAS. Most candidates who campaigned on platforms of Islamic issues lost their seats. This was a significant turnaround compared to the previous elections, where generally the more "Islamic" candidates had a greater chance of winning in the Malay heartland.

Background

On 2 March, the tenth national parliament and all state assemblies in Malaysia (with the exception of Sarawak) were dissolved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong upon the advice of the Prime Minister. Sarawak's last state election was held in 2001, and elections for the state assembly were not due till 2006.

The elections were held nine months earlier than required by the constitution. The constitution allowed for a parliamentary term of up to five years. Elections were required to be called three months after parliament is dissolved. The government had until the end of November 2004 to call elections.

Campaign

Candidates were nominated on 13 March, with the National Front winning 15 seats uncontested, and another two seats after the opposing candidates withdrew. The right to withdraw was only introduced as a new rule at these elections. Under this rule candidates are allowed a three-day period to withdraw following nomination day. Of the 17 parliamentary seats won uncontested, nine were in the state of Sabah, six in Sarawak and two in Johor.

PAS won a state assembly seat Senggarang in Johor for the first time, after the National Front candidate was disqualified because she was seconded by someone who was not a registered voter in the constituency that she wanted to contest. The requirement that the seconder be registered in the same constituency was only introduced in 2004. This seat was influenced by other opposition parties to gain many state seat in 2008 contest.

Conduct

The elections were marred by discrepancies, which were admitted by the electoral authorities. The head of the Election Commission, Ab Rashid Ab Rahman, made the statement "I have been in this line for so long... it should not have happened at all. There must be reasons why this happened." He has served in the election commission for the last five elections, and has stated that he intends to resign if a report on the discrepancies implicates him in the foul-ups.

Among the discrepancies were wrongly printed ballots, registered voters being unable to vote and wide discrepancies in votes in various seats upon re-counting the ballots.

In the seat of Sungai Lembing in state of Pahang, the Keadilan symbol was printed wrongly on the ballot paper for PAS candidate Idris Ahmad. Illiterate voters tend to rely on familiar party symbols for voting purposes as they are unable to read the candidate's names on the ballot. Voting was suspended for 5 hours before resuming. Polling was re-held for the seat on 28 March. [1]

Results

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 2,483,25935.71109+37
Malaysian Chinese Association 1,074,23015.4531+2
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 257,6633.7110+4
Malaysian Indian Congress 221,5463.199+2
Sarawak United Peoples' Party 102,0571.476–1
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu 80,4081.16110
UPKO 55,1170.794+1
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party 49,4830.714New
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak 46,2920.6760
United Sabah Party 26,5040.384+1
People's Progressive Party 20,1290.291+1
Liberal Democratic Party 8,2080.120–1
Sabah Progressive Party 7,1430.1020
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah 5,8800.081+1
Total4,437,91963.82198+50
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 1,062,07815.277–20
People's Justice Party 617,1698.881–4
Total1,672,35024.058–34
Democratic Action Party 687,3509.8812+2
Sarawak National Party 28,4810.410–4
State Reform Party 6,2700.0900
United Democratic Sabah People's Power Party 2,1430.030New
Malaysian Democratic Party 1,1070.0200
United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation 5430.010New
Independents110,5671.591+1
Total6,953,627100.00219+26
Valid votes6,953,62797.71
Invalid/blank votes163,1902.29
Total votes7,116,817100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,755,09772.95
Source: CLEA, CRISE

By state

Johor

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 402,63047.6916+3
Malaysian Chinese Association 232,25127.518+2
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 18,9972.251New
Malaysian Indian Congress 17,9532.1310
Total671,83179.5826+5
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 73,9468.7600
People's Justice Party 39,4284.6700
Total113,37413.4300
Democratic Action Party 59,0136.9900
Total844,218100.0026+6
Valid votes844,21897.19
Invalid/blank votes24,4472.81
Total votes868,665100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,184,78873.32

Kedah

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 334,29551.3612+7
Malaysian Chinese Association 54,6488.4020
Total388,94359.7614+7
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 184,85028.401–7
People's Justice Party 77,10211.8500
Total261,95240.241–7
Total650,895100.00150
Valid votes650,89597.92
Invalid/blank votes13,7952.08
Total votes664,690100.00
Registered voters/turnout821,90180.87

Kelantan

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 262,37750.128+7
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 202,10338.616–4
People's Justice Party 52,82410.090–3
Total254,92748.706–7
Independents6,1981.1800
Total523,502100.00140
Valid votes523,50297.78
Invalid/blank votes11,9082.22
Total votes535,410100.00
Registered voters/turnout662,72280.79

Kuala Lumpur

Party or allianceVotes%Seats
Barisan Nasional Malaysian Chinese Association 108,54524.082
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 78,20717.352
United Malays National Organisation 77,14117.123
Total263,89358.557
Democratic Action Party 109,33924.264
Barisan Alternatif People's Justice Party 57,03312.650
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 19,1834.260
Total76,21616.910
Malaysian Democratic Party 1,1070.250
Independents1320.030
Total450,687100.0011
Valid votes450,68799.19
Invalid/blank votes3,6940.81
Total votes454,381100.00
Registered voters/turnout670,92067.73

Labuan

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 11,08777.6810
Barisan Alternatif People's Justice Party 3,18622.3200
Total14,273100.0010
Valid votes14,27396.69
Invalid/blank votes4883.31
Total votes14,761100.00
Registered voters/turnout22,00667.08

Malacca

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 121,64347.414+1
Malaysian Chinese Association 61,13723.832+1
Total182,78071.246+2
Democratic Action Party 38,37014.960–1
Barisan Alternatif People's Justice Party 19,7617.7000
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 15,6536.1000
Total35,41413.8000
Total256,564100.006+1
Valid votes256,56496.98
Invalid/blank votes7,9973.02
Total votes264,561100.00
Registered voters/turnout345,91776.48

Negeri Sembilan

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 121,71540.175+1
Malaysian Chinese Association 61,55120.3120
Malaysian Indian Congress 28,4949.4010
Total211,76069.898+1
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 31,01010.2300
People's Justice Party 19,4806.4300
Total50,49016.6600
Democratic Action Party 40,75213.4500
Total303,002100.008+1
Valid votes303,00296.86
Invalid/blank votes9,8283.14
Total votes312,830100.00
Registered voters/turnout429,78672.79

Pahang

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 205,27848.8610+2
Malaysian Chinese Association 68,94016.4130
Malaysian Indian Congress 10,2262.431New
Total284,44467.7114+2
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 79,60418.9500
People's Justice Party 31,0817.4000
Total110,68526.3500
Democratic Action Party 24,9915.9500
Total420,120100.0014+3
Valid votes420,12097.62
Invalid/blank votes10,2342.38
Total votes430,354100.00
Registered voters/turnout570,12675.48

Penang

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 108,49821.714+1
Malaysian Chinese Association 87,82217.5710
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 87,79017.573+1
Total284,11056.858+2
Democratic Action Party 135,12527.0440
Barisan Alternatif People's Justice Party 61,41012.2910
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 19,1093.8200
Total80,51916.1110
Total499,754100.0013+2
Valid votes499,75497.90
Invalid/blank votes10,7122.10
Total votes510,466100.00
Registered voters/turnout672,36275.92

Perak

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 182,40423.8211+2
Malaysian Chinese Association 166,37821.734–2
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 51,3786.7130
Malaysian Indian Congress 35,7424.6720
People's Progressive Party 20,1292.631+1
Total456,03159.5521+1
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 106,02213.840–2
People's Justice Party 68,7038.9700
Total174,72522.820–2
Democratic Action Party 135,05617.643+2
Total765,812100.0024+1
Valid votes765,81297.21
Invalid/blank votes21,9692.79
Total votes787,781100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,170,35167.31

Perlis

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 58,18863.7230
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 33,13236.2800
Total91,320100.0030
Valid votes91,32098.12
Invalid/blank votes1,7531.88
Total votes93,073100.00
Registered voters/turnout112,48282.74

Putrajaya

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 4,08688.3310
Barisan Alternatif People's Justice Party 54011.6700
Total4,626100.0010
Valid votes4,62699.40
Invalid/blank votes280.60
Total votes4,654100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,07991.63

Sabah

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 93,83130.6813–1
UKPO 55,11718.024New
United Sabah Party 26,5048.674+1
Liberal Democratic Party 8,2082.680–1
Sabah Progressive Party 7,1432.3420
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah 5,8801.921New
Total196,68364.3124–1
Barisan Alternatif People's Justice Party 33,00010.7900
Democratic Action Party 8,5122.7800
United Democratic Sabah People's Power Party 2,1430.700New
United Pasok Nunukragang National Organisation 5430.180New
Independents64,94721.241+1
Total305,828100.0025+5
Valid votes305,82896.36
Invalid/blank votes11,5593.64
Total votes317,387100.00
Registered voters/turnout512,49061.93

Sarawak

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional Sarawak United Peoples' Party 102,05724.146–1
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu 80,40819.02110
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party 49,48311.714New
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak 46,29210.9560
Total278,24065.8327–1
Democratic Action Party 67,55615.981+1
Sarawak National Party 28,4816.740–4
Barisan Alternatif People's Justice Party 5,4201.2800
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 1,0350.2400
Total6,4551.530New
State Reform Party 6,2701.4800
Independents35,6828.4400
Total422,684100.00280
Valid votes422,68498.54
Invalid/blank votes6,2761.46
Total votes428,960100.00
Registered voters/turnout695,96961.63

Selangor

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 280,22527.7310+2
Malaysian Chinese Association 232,95823.057+1
Malaysian Indian Congress 129,13112.784+1
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia 21,2912.111+1
Total663,60565.6722+5
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 143,94614.2400
People's Justice Party 130,75212.9400
Total274,69827.1800
Democratic Action Party 68,6366.7900
Independents3,6080.3600
Total1,010,547100.0022+5
Valid votes1,010,54797.86
Invalid/blank votes22,1362.14
Total votes1,032,683100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,422,27472.61

Terengganu

Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
Barisan Nasional United Malays National Organisation 219,86156.408+8
Barisan Alternatif Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 149,29938.300–7
People's Justice Party 20,6355.290–1
Total169,93443.600–8
Total389,795100.0080
Valid votes389,79598.39
Invalid/blank votes6,3661.61
Total votes396,161100.00
Registered voters/turnout455,92486.89

See also

Further reading

References