Rakyat Didahulukan (People's First, Nation First) Hidup Rakyat (Long Live the People!) Bersama Barisan Nasional (With the National Front) Hidup Negaraku (Long Live the Nation!) Kestabilan dan Kemakmuran (Stability and Prosperity)
The Barisan Nasional coalition employs the same inter-communal governing model of its predecessor the Alliance Party but on a wider scale, with up to 14 communal political parties involved in the coalition at one point.[1] It dominated Malaysian politics for over thirty years after it was founded, but since 2008 has faced stronger challenges from opposition parties, notably the Pakatan Rakyat and later the Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliances. Taken together with its predecessor Alliance, it had a combined period of rule of almost 61 years from 1957 to 2018, and was considered the longest ruling coalition party in the democratic world.[7]
The Barisan Nasional coalition lost its hold of the parliament to PH for the first time in Malaysian history after the 2018 general election. It was also the first time Barisan Nasional became the opposition coalition, with former prime minister and Barisan Nasional chairman Mahathir Mohamad becoming PH's leader. As a result, the Sabah and Sarawak BN component parties left the coalition and formed their own coalitions in 2018 and 2022. In the aftermath of the 2020 Malaysian political crisis, together with four other parties, the Barisan Nasional coalition returned to power under a Perikatan Nasional-led government. However, it suffered its worst result in the 2022 election, falling to third behind Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional, but it stayed in government by supporting Pakatan Harapan.
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In 1977, PAS was expelled from Barisan Nasional following a revolt by PAS within the Kelantan state legislature against the chief minister appointed by the federal government.[1] Barisan Nasional nevertheless won the 1978 general election convincingly, and it continued to dominate Malaysian politics in the 1980s and 1990s despite some losses in state elections, such as the loss of Kelantan to PAS, and Sabah to United Sabah Party which later joined Barisan Nasional.
By 2003, Barisan Nasional had grown to a coalition formed of more than a dozen communal parties. It performed particularly well in the 2004 general election, winning 198 out of 219 seats.
Although Barisan Nasional never achieved more than 67% of the popular vote in elections from 1974 to 2008, it maintained the consecutive two-thirds majority of seats in this period in the Dewan Rakyat until the 2008 election, benefitting from Malaysia's first-past-the-postvoting system.[11]
2008–2018
In the 2008 general election, Barisan Nasional lost more than one-third of the parliamentary seats to Pakatan Rakyat, a loose alliance of opposition parties. This marked Barisan's first failure to secure a two-thirds supermajority in Parliament since 1969. Five state governments, namely Selangor, Kelantan, Penang, Perak and Kedah fell to Pakatan Rakyat. Perak however was later returned via a court ruling following a constitutional crisis. Since 2008, the coalition has seen its non-Malay component parties greatly diminished in the peninsula.[12]
The losses continued in the 2013 general election, and it recorded its worst election result at the time. BN regained Kedah but lost several more seats in Parliament along with the popular vote to Pakatan. Despite winning only 47% of the popular vote, it managed to gain 60% of the 222 parliamentary seats, thereby retaining control of the parliament.[13]
And finally, during the 2018 general election, Barisan Nasional lost control of the parliament to Pakatan Harapan, winning a total of only 79 parliamentary seats. The crushing defeat ended their 61-year rule of the country, taken together with its predecessor (Alliance), and this paved the way for the first change of government in Malaysian history. The coalition won only 34% of the popular vote amid vote split of Islamic Party. In addition to their failure in regaining the Penang, Selangor and Kelantan state governments, six state governments, namely Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah and Sabah fell to Pakatan Harapan and WARISAN (Sabah). The Terengganu state government also fell but to the Gagasan Sejahtera. Barisan Nasional was only in power in three states; namely Perlis, Pahang and Sarawak.
Many of BN's component parties left the coalition following its humiliating defeat at the 2018 general election, reducing its number to 4 compared to 13 before the election.[14] These parties either aligned themselves with the new Pakatan Harapan federal government, formed a new state-based pact or remained independent. They include three Sabah-based parties (UPKO, PBS and LDP),[15][16] four Sarawak-based parties (PBB, SUPP, PRS and PDP, which formed a new state-based pact GPS),[17][18]myPPP (under Kayveas faction)[19] and Gerakan.[20]myPPP experienced a leadership dispute, with Maglin announcing that the party remained within the coalition and Kayveas announcing that the party had left the coalition, resulting in the dissolution of the party on 14 January 2019.
Among the remaining four component parties in Barisan National, UMNO's parliamentary seats have reduced from 54 to 38 since 16 members of parliament left the party,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] while MCA's parliamentary seat maintains one. MIC's parliamentary seats have reduced from two to one after the Election Court nullified the results of the election for the Cameron Highlands federal constituency due to bribery,[29] but BN regained its seat from a direct member under the 2019 by-election.[30]
As a result of these developments, BN's parliamentary seats have reduced to 41, compared with 79 seats that BN won in the general election.
MCA and MIC made a statement in March 2019 that they want to "move on" and find a new alliance following disputes with the secretary-general, Nazri Abdul Aziz. Mohamad Hasan, the acting BN chairman, chaired a Supreme Council meeting in which all parties showed no consensus on dissolving the coalition.
2019–present
In January 2019, all Sabah UMNO branches including Sabah BN branches were dissolved and officially closed, leaving only one BN branch open. This brings the total BN seats in Sabah to only 2 seats.
In September 2019, UMNO decided to form a pact with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) called Muafakat Nasional. Its main purpose is to unite the Malay Muslim communities for electoral purposes.[35] There was however no formal agreement with the other parties of Barisan Nasional, although there were calls for Barisan Nasional to migrate to Muafakat Nasional.[36][37] Barisan Nasional continued to function as a coalition of four parties comprising UMNO, MCA, MIC and PBRS but aligned themselves with Perikatan Nasional to form a new government in March 2020 after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.[38] Barisan Nasional form a new government on 15 August 2021 with Perikatan Nasional after the collapse of the Perikatan Nasional government.
Barisan Nasional also recovered control of the Johor,[39] Malacca[40] and Perak[41] state governments.
On 12 March 2022, Barisan gained a landslide victory in the 2022 Johor state election, allowing it to form the much more stable Johor state government with a two-thirds majority in the Johor State Legislative Assembly, which is 40 out of 56 seats while defeating Pakatan Harapan with 12 seats, Perikatan Nasional with 3 seats and Malaysian United Democratic Alliance with 1 seat.
In 2013, the vast majority of Barisan Nasional's seats were held by its two largest Bumiputera-based political parties—the United Malays National Organisation, and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu. For most of its history, both the Malaysian Chinese Association and Malaysian Indian Congress have played major roles in Barisan Nasional, but their representation in Parliament and state legislatures has become much more diminished. Nevertheless, each component party purports to represent – and limit membership – to a certain race: UMNO for the Malays, MCA for the Chinese and so on. In the view of some scholars:
Since its inception the Alliance remained a coalition of communal parties. Each of the component parties operated to all intents and purposes, save that of elections, as a separate party. Their membership was communal, except perhaps Gerakan, and their success was measured in terms of their ability to achieve the essentially parochial demands of their constituents.[51]
Although both the Alliance and BN registered themselves as political parties, membership is mostly indirect through one of the constituent parties while direct membership is allowed.[52] The BN defines itself as a "confederation of political parties which subscribe to the objects of the Barisan Nasional". Although in elections, all candidates stand under the BN symbol, and there is a BN manifesto, each individual constituent party also issues its own manifesto, and there is intra-coalition competition for seats prior to nomination day.[53]
Barisan Nasional also forms the state governments of Negeri Sembilan, Penang and Selangor in coalition with Pakatan Harapan, following the formation of the federal unity government (Kerajaan Perpaduan) in the aftermath of the 15th general election of November 2022.
↑ From March 2020 to July 2021 as a junior partner in a coalition government, senior partner from August 2021 to October 2022
Related Research Articles
The United Malays National Organisation ; abbreviated UMNO or less commonly PEKEMBAR, is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party within Malaysia, UMNO has been known as Malaysia's "Grand Old Party".
The United Sabah People's Party is a minority political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. Presently PBRS is being led by its President Arthur Joseph Kurup. The party was previously led by its founding and first President; Joseph Kurup from 1994 to 2023. PBRS is officially a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition since 1994 except for a brief period from 2018 to 2020.
The Alliance Party was a political coalition in Malaysia. The Alliance Party, whose membership comprised United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), was formally registered as a political organisation on 30 October 1957. It was the ruling coalition of Malaya from 1957 to 1963, and Malaysia from 1963 to 1973. The coalition became the Barisan Nasional in 1973.
General elections were held in Malaysia on Wednesday, 9 May 2018. At stake were all 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of parliament. The 13th Parliament was dissolved by Prime Minister Najib Razak on 7 April 2018. It would have been automatically dissolved on 24 June 2018, five years after the first meeting of the first session of the 13th Parliament of Malaysia on 24 June 2013.
The Alliance of Hope is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been part of a "Unity Government" since November 2022 together with other political coalitions and parties as a result of the 2022 Malaysian general election, and previously for 22 months after it had won the 2018 Malaysian general election until February 2020 when it lost power as a result of the 2020 Malaysian political crisis at the federal level. The coalition deposed the Barisan Nasional coalition government during the 2018 election, ending its 60-year-long reign since independence.
The Malaysian United Indigenous Party, abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia. It is a major component party within the Perikatan Nasional coalition. BERSATU was approved and registered on 14 January 2017 by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the use of the BERSATU logo was authorized by the Malaysian Election Commission (SPR). The party held the Prime Ministerial position as well as the majority of positions in the cabinet from May 2020 to August 2021. The party's founding members came from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Barisan Nasional rebel group Gabungan Ketua Cawangan Malaysia in 2016.
This is a list of the members of the Dewan Rakyat of the 14th Parliament of Malaysia.
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The Sarawak Parties Alliance is a Sarawak-based national political alliance in Malaysia. It was established in 2018 by four former Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties operating solely in Sarawak following the federal coalition's defeat in the 2018 Malaysian general election. It is currently the fourth largest political coalition with 23 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, and forms the government in the state of Sarawak.
General elections were held in Malaysia on Saturday, 19 November 2022. The prospect of snap elections had been considered high due to the political crisis that had been ongoing since 2020; political instability caused by coalition or party switching among members of Parliament, combined with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to the resignation of two prime ministers and the collapse of each of their respective coalition governments since the 2018 general elections.
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The National Alliance is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, Malaysian Islamic Party, Malaysian People's Movement Party and Sabah Progressive Party. This coalition was preceded by the Malaysian Party Alliance Association, also known as the Persatuan Perikatan Parti Malaysia (PPPM). It is the second largest political coalition in Dewan Rakyat with 74 seats after Pakatan Harapan (PH) with 81 seats; dubbed as the "Green Wave".
The National Concord was a Malaysian political coalition that was formed between the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) against the then-ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition which had come into power after the 2018 Malaysian general election (GE14). The political cooperation between the two largest Malay/Muslim-based parties was officialised with the signing of the Piagam Muafakat Nasional. The five-point charter was signed by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the Himpunan Penyatuan Ummah held at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur on 14 September 2019. Its main aim is to unite the Malay/Muslim community or Ummah for electoral purposes.
The 2022 Johor state election, formally the 15th Johor general election, took place on 12 March 2022. The election was to elect 56 members of the 15th Johor State Legislative Assembly. The previous assembly was dissolved on 22 January 2022.
The 2022 Pahang state election, formally the 15th Pahang state election, took place on 19 November 2022. This election was to elect 42 members of the 15th Pahang State Legislative Assembly. The previous assembly was dissolved on 14 October 2022. The election for the Tioman was delayed to 7 December following the death of the Perikatan candidate.
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↑ Timothy J. Lomperis, September 1996, 'From People's War to People's Rule: Insurgency, Intervention, and the Lessons of Vietnam', page 212, ISBN0807822736
↑ Helen Ting. "The Politics of National Identity in West Malaysia: Continued Mutation or Critical Transition? [The Politics of Ambiguity]"(PDF). Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. J-Stage. p.3/21 [33] and 5/21 [35]. UMNO came into being in 1946 under the impetus of the Anti-Malayan Union Movement based on this ideological understanding of ketuanan Melayu. Its founding president, Dato' Onn Jaafar, once said that the UMNO movement did not adhere to any ideology other than Melayuisme, defined by scholar Ariffin Omar as "the belief that the interests of the bangsa Melayu must be upheld over all else". Malay political dominance is a fundamental reality of Malaysian politics, notwithstanding the fact that the governing coalition since independence, the Alliance [subsequently expanded to form the Barisan Nasional or literally, the "National Front"], is multiethnic in its composition.
Chok, Suat Ling (4 October 2005). "MPs in the dock". New Straits Times, p.1, 6.
Chin, James. 2002. Malaysia: The Barisan National Supremacy. In David Newman & John Fuh-sheng Hsieh (eds), How Asia Votes, pp.210–233. New York: Chatham House, Seven Bridges Press. ISBN1-889119-41-5.
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