An overview of general election dynamics in Malaysia 1978 – 2013

In a democracy, elections are imperative elements. In the Malaysian context, elections had been held since before independence in 1955 and after independence in 1959. This paper analyses the general elections held since 1978 till 2013 to decipher the dynamics of the achievement of political parties in Malaysia. The 1978 general elections were chosen as the focal point of analysis because PAS was taken out of the BN coalition from where onwards the political competition between BN and the opposing political parties became more dynamic and intriguing. During the 1978-2013 study period it was observed that the downfalls and successful achievements of the political partiesin many general elections were caused mainly by internal party crises and leadership conflicts. For the opposition, the internal UMNO-BN crises gave benefits and advantages to them in a few series of the general elections until they succeeded in taking over a few states and thus reduced the BN two-thirds majority in the parliament. Other than that, the radical and unprecedented cooperation and collaborations between opposition parties had also become an important factor in influencing the general election results and made political elections in Malaysia all the more colourful.