Author/Authors :
Besar, Junaidi Awang Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Pusat Pengajian Sosial, Pembangunan dan Persekitaran, Malaysia , Abdul Ghani, Muhammad Hazim Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Pusat Pengajian Sosial, Pembangunan dan Persekitaran, Malaysia , Mat Jali, Mohd Fuad Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Pusat Pengajian Sosial, Pembangunan dan Persekitaran, Malaysia , Lyndon, Novel Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Pusat Pengajian Sosial, Pembangunan dan Persekitaran, Malaysia
Abstract :
Ethnic politics may produce particular dynamics in shaping the process and outcome of a general election. This is even more so in a multiracial, multi-ethnic country such as Malaysia. In the country’s last 13th general election, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) party failed to get a two third majority of parliament seats but still dominated the parliamentary seats by a simple majority. Other important states of Selangor, Penang and Kelantan remained in the rival Pakatan Rakyat PR parties. The results of 13th general election also showed the PR parties controling the majority of seats in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly (DUN) with 44 seats compared to BN’s 12. Using data obtained from the results of the 12th and the 13th general elections, this article analyses the racial voting patterns in the state’s 13th general election. The results showed that urban voters tended to support the PR while rural voters remained loyal with the BN. The majority (87 peratus) of the Chinese voters and 57 percent of Indian voters voted for the PR as against 63 per cent of Malay voters who trusted the BN/UMNO. These findings may prove useful to political parties in the face of the forthcoming 14th general elections.
Keywords :
ethnicity , ethnic politics , general elections , political parties , voting patterns , voters
