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The next Sarawak state election, formally the 13th Sarawak general election, will elect the 20th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly. It must be held by 15 April 2027 at the latest, persuant to clause 21(4) of the Constitution of Sarawak. This date is dependent on when the 19th Legislative Assembly first sits. All 82 seats will be up for election, presuming no constituencies are added or removed in a redistribution.
Elections in Malaysia are conducted at the federal and state levels. Federal elections elect members of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state elections in each of the 13 states elect members of their respective state legislative assembly. As Malaysia follows the Westminster system of government, the head of government (Prime Minister at the federal level and the Menteri Besar/Chief Ministers/Premier at the state level) is the person who commands the confidence of the majority of members in the respective legislature – this is normally the leader of the party or coalition with the majority of seats in the legislature.
The Legislative Assembly consists of 82 members, known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), that are elected for five-year terms. Each MLA is elected from a single-member constituencies using the first-past-the-post voting system; each constituency contains approximately an equal number of voters. If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the government, with its leader becoming the Premier. In the event of a hung parliament, where no single party obtains the majority of seats, the government may still form through a coalition or a confidence and supply agreement with other parties. In practice, coalitions and alliances in Malaysia, and by extension, in Sarawak, generally persist between elections, and member parties do not normally contest for the same seats.
The voting age is currently 18. [1] [2] [3] [4] Elections are conducted by the Election Commission of Malaysia, which is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Department. Malaysia practices automatic voter registration but does not practice compulsory voting.
A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition has an absolute majority of legislators in a parliament or other legislature. This situation is also known as a balanced parliament, or as a parliament under no overall control (NOC),. A hung parliament may result in a coalition government, a minority government, or a snap election if a government cannot be formed.
Elections in Malaysia include elections to public office of the political entities that since 1963 have composed the federation of Malaysia. At present, elections in Malaysia exist at two levels: federal level and state level. Federal level elections are those for membership in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state level elections are for membership in the various State Legislative Assemblies. The heads of executive branch at both the federal and state levels, the Prime Minister and Menteri Besar/Chief Ministers respectively, are usually indirectly elected, filled by a member of the majority party/coalition in the respective legislatures.
General elections were held in Singapore on 21 September 1963, five days after Singapore became part of Malaysia. Voters elected all 51 members of the Legislative Assembly. The elections were the only ones to date with no boundary changes to any existing constituencies prior to the elections. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party (PAP), which won 37 of the 51 seats, while the majority of the remaining seats were won by Barisan Sosialis (BS).
Chong Chieng Jen, is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who has served as Chairman of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) since February 2024, State Leader of the Opposition of Sarawak from June 2013 to November 2020 and again since March 2024, Member of Parliament (MP) for Stampin since May 2018 and Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Padungan since December 2021. He served as the Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and former Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail from July 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020, MP for Bandar Kuching from March 2004 to May 2018 and MLA for Kota Sentosa from May 2006 to December 2021. He is a member, National Vice Chairman, State Chairman of Sarawak, Branch Chairman of Kuching and State Youth Advisor of Sarawak as well as Bandar Kuching of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the PH and formerly Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalitions.
The first Sarawak state election was held from Saturday, 10 May 1969 and scheduled to be completed on Saturday, 7 June 1969 which lasted for 4 weeks and was carried out in staggered basis. This was due to the lack of transportation and communication systems in the state at that time. The state election was held at the same time as the 1969 general election. The Dewan Rakyat of the Malaysian Parliament and all the state assemblies were dissolved on 20 March 1969, except for Kelantan and Sabah. The nomination date was set on Saturday, 5 April 1969. However, because of the riot occurred during 13 May incident and the declaration of emergency and the promulgation of Emergency Ordinance No. 1 of 1969 on 15 May 1969, all the ongoing polls were suspended until 1970. During when the suspension was enforced, polling in 9 out of 48 constituencies in Sarawak had started. None of the elections in Sarawak was completed at that time.
The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak; the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak forms the other part of the legislature. The Assembly is modelled after the traditions of the Westminster parliamentary system, which originates from the practices of the British Parliament. The executive branch of government is drawn from the elected members of the Assembly. The State Legislative Assembly sits at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building located in Petra Jaya in Kuching, the state capital.
The sixth Sarawak state election was held between Friday, 27 September and Saturday, 28 September 1991. This election elected 56 state representatives into the Sarawak State Assembly. This election saw 72.8% of the eligible voters to cast their votes.
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 eleventh Sarawak state election was held on Saturday, 7 May 2016 after nomination for candidates on Monday, 25 April 2016. The 82 members of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, were elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. More than 1.1 million who had their names entered or retained in an electoral register for a particular electoral district in Sarawak was eligible to vote at the time of the election. Malaysia does not practice compulsory voting and automatic voter registration. The voting age is 21 although the age of majority in the country is 18. The election was conducted by the Election Commission of Malaysia.
Alice Lau Kiong Yieng is a Malaysian politician and pharmacist who has served as the Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat II under Speaker Johari Abdul since December 2022 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lanang since May 2013. She served as Chairperson of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) from October 2019 to March 2020. She is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
The Sarawak Government is an authority governing Sarawak, one of the Borneo states of Malaysia, and is based in Kuching, the state capital. The state government adheres to and is created by both the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the supreme law of Malaysia, and the Constitution of the State of Sarawak, the supreme law of the State.
The 2021 Sarawak state election, formally the 12th Sarawak general election, took place on 18 December 2021. This election was to elect 82 members of the 19th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly. The previous assembly was dissolved on 3 November 2021.
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.
The next Sabah state election, formally the 17th Sabah general election, will elect the 17th Sabah State Legislative Assembly. It must be held by 9 December 2025 at the latest, persuant to clause 21(4) of the Constitution of Sabah. This date is dependent on when the 16th Legislative Assembly first sits. All 73 seats will be up for contests, presuming no constituencies are added or removed in a redistribution.
Datuk Robert Lawson Chuat anak Vincent Entering is a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Betong from May 2018 to November 2022 and Chairman of the Bintulu Port Authority (BPA) since April 2020. He served as Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Bukit Saban from May 2006 to May 2016. He is a member of the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), a component party of the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition and formerly ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
The second Sarawak district council elections was held in 1963. The results of the election was announced from 18 to 25 June 1963. A total of 185,000 voters cast votes in this election. A total of 998 candidates were vying for 429 district council seats in Sarawak.
The 2020 Sabah state election took place on 26 September 2020 to elect all 73 elected members of the 16th Sabah State Legislative Assembly. The previous Assembly was dissolved on 30 July 2020.
The 2021 Malacca state election, formally the 15th Malacca state election, took place on 20 November 2021. This election was to elect 28 members of the 15th Malacca State Legislative Assembly. The previous assembly was dissolved on 4 October 2021.
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.
General elections must be held in Malaysia by 17 February 2028. Redistribution and boundary changes for the constituencies are expected to take place by 2026, with the last taking place before the 2018 general election.
Qualifications needed to register as a voter in Malaysia:
a) A Malaysian citizen above the age of 21.
b) A resident of an election constituency.
c) Is not disqualified by any laws.
You are not eligible to register if you are:
a) on the qualifying date, you are serving jail term or detained as a person of unsound mind.
b) before the qualifying date, you have been convicted or sentenced to death or serving a jail term of more than 12 months and you're still liable on the qualifying date.
c) found guilty under the Election Offences Act, 1954.
d) have a foreign citizenship (Malaysian citizenship law does not permit a Malaysian to carry dual citizenship).