Malaysians Vote for Change in 2008
Malaysia's National Coalition Party Loses Voters' Confidence
Barisan Nasional suffered a reduction in Parliamentary seats, lost 5 states to the opposition and had prominent cabinet members displaced in the 2008 Malaysian elections.
Barisan Nasional (BN), the Malaysia National Coalition Party, displayed their worst performance during the 2008 election as the national ruling party in the history of Malaysia. The election results came as a shock to the national front, the voters as well as the opposition parties - none of them expected that the opposition parties would be able to cause pressure of such a magnitude to the ruling party's position.
Reduction in Parliamentary Seats
BN experienced a staggering drop of 28% of Parliamentary seats since the 1999 elections, only securing 140 seats this election. WIth the total number of available seats recorded at 222, BN for the first time in history, failed to secure a two-thirds majority.
The remaining parliamentary seats were distributed amongst the three parties that make up the opposition government - Parti Agama Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), Parti KeADILan Rakyat (PKR) and Democratic Action Party (DAP). These three parties won 82 seats in Parliament and nearly 50% of votes in peninsular Malaysia.
BN Loses in 5 States
BN lost 5 states of 14 to Barisan Rakyat (BR - the opposition front).
Speculation pre-election was that the BR strongly rallied to earn favourite polls in the states of Kelantan (in which they have always held), Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis.
In the 1999 elections, Terengganu voted out BN as state government and elected PAS to lead them as a state. In 2003 however, with a change in premier leadership, Terengganu was bought over by BN, much to the dimay of the opposition. BR claimed that phantom voters had caused Terengganu to fall back into the hands of the federal government. The same claims surfaced in the recent elections that caused a poor performance for BA in Terengganu.
Unfortunately opposition candidates in Perlis also failed to win the majority vote, and the small northern state remains under BN's state government.
PAS won over Kedah in a rough tussle with BN and also triumphed in Kelantan.
The other three unexpected states that caused BN's confidence to falter were Penang, Perak and Selangor. The transfer of Selangor state government to the opposition came as the largest shock to the nation; Selangor is seen as the hub of development and education in the country. Yet, voters in Selangor have also fallen victim to vicious price-hikes in recent years causing the majority to support BR.
Displacement of Ministers
Long-term Ministers Dato' Seri Samy Vellu and Dato' Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil are two of the few that lost their Parliamentary seats, discontinuing their legacies as Members of Parliament and Ministry Heads.
Dato' Seri Samy Vellu has faced negative sentiment on his leadership quality due to his adamant stubborness to remain in office despite continuous calls for him to step down. The 72-year-old has held the same position as president of the Malaysian Indian Congress for the past 50 years. To-date he is the longest serving cabinet Minister in Malaysia - his last office was the Works Ministry.
Dato' Seri Shahrizat, 56, lost her seat to Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of PKR's leader, Anwar Ibrahim. Twenty-eight year-old Nurul Izzah is seen to take to the Parliament representing the higher upper class of the Selangor community.
Additionally, several other Deputy Ministers have also been displaced from Parliament and are therefore unable to serve the government.
