11 March 2008: The Malaysian people voted to end more than 40 years of domination by the ruling coalition in parliamentary elections on Saturday March 8. The Barisol Nasional (BN), or National Front, lost its two-thirds majority but still has a 139-seat majority in the 222-member legislature.

The ruling BN coalition includes ethnic Chinese and Indian groups who voted in protest against what they see as racial bias in favor of the majority Malays.  The BN has been in control since Malaysia won independence from Britain in 1957.

The vote is something of a revolution in Malaysian politics and though violence was expected during the voting the surprising results have not been met with any violence except for one protest by supporters of an Islamic party.

Ethnic tensions dominated the elections as the Chinese minority makes up a quarter of the 27 million people.

The BN party still won a simple majority in parliament—official results gave the BN 127 of the 222 seats. Although the Barisol Nasional party won enough seats to form the next government and the prime minister held his seat, the opposition made notable gains in Penang, Kedah, Selangor, and Perak. Some top cabinet officials lost in their districts to the opposition alliance which is made up of the DAP, Pas, and PKR parties.

There had been fears of an economic slowdown if the opposition took control. As the opposition parties increased their holdings from one to five of the 13 states, including the important manufacturing base in Penang, the opposition announced to foreign investors that it would continue Kuala Lumpur’s business-friendly policies.

Several politicians called for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. But despite calls from Mahathir and opposition leaders for the prime minister to quit, Abdullah refuses to step down.

Former deputy prime minister and leader of the opposition PKR party, Anwar Ibrahim called the election, “a defining moment” for Malaysia. He also noted progress in race relations as Malaysia’s ethnic groups did not vote purely along communal lines. Anwar is one of the biggest winners of the election after returning to politics following his jailing on what were seen as trumped up corruption and sodomy charges in 1998.

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