Archive for March 2nd, 2008
Election Results 1959 to 2004
It is important to study the historical records of the past elections to have a better feeling of the current election but I was surprised that this data proved to be more difficult to search for in the internet than I had anticipated. So much for the information age! Nevertheless, the following were the results of the previous elections since 1959.
|
Year |
Total No of Seats |
Government |
Opposition |
||
|
No of Seats |
% of Seats |
No of Seats |
% of Seats |
||
|
1959 |
104 |
74 |
71.2 |
30 |
28.8 |
|
1964 |
104 |
89 |
85.6 |
15 |
14.4 |
|
1969 |
144 |
95 |
66.0 |
49 |
34.0 |
|
1974 |
154 |
135 |
87.7 |
19 |
12.3 |
|
1978 |
154 |
130 |
84.4 |
24 |
15.6 |
|
1982 |
154 |
132 |
85.7 |
22 |
14.3 |
|
1986 |
177 |
148 |
83.6 |
29 |
16.4 |
|
1990 |
180 |
127 |
70.6 |
53 |
29.4 |
|
1995 |
192 |
162 |
84.4 |
30 |
15.6 |
|
1999 |
193 |
148 |
76.7 |
45 |
23.3 |
|
2004 |
219 |
199 |
90.9 |
20 |
9.1 |
From the first glance, it would appear that the Malaysian public is strong behind Barisan Nasional, the government. After all, they won have been winning more than 2/3 of the seats since independance except for 1969 when they had exactly 2/3. During the last election, the government had a record 199 seats out of 219 or a record of 90.6% of the total seats.
However if we were to scrutinise the votes more closely, we would come out with surprising results.
|
Year |
Total No of Seats |
Government |
Opposition |
||
|
% of Seats |
% of Votes |
% of Seats |
% of Votes |
||
|
1959 |
104 |
71.2 |
51.7 |
28.8 |
48.3 |
|
1964 |
104 |
85.6 |
58.5 |
14.4 |
41.5 |
|
1969 |
144 |
66.0 |
49.3 |
34.0 |
50.7 |
|
1974 |
154 |
87.7 |
60.7 |
12.3 |
39.3 |
|
1978 |
154 |
84.4 |
57.2 |
15.6 |
42.8 |
|
1982 |
154 |
85.7 |
60.5 |
14.3 |
39.5 |
|
1986 |
177 |
83.6 |
55.8 |
16.4 |
44.2 |
|
1990 |
180 |
70.6 |
53.4 |
29.4 |
46.6 |
|
1995 |
192 |
84.4 |
65.2 |
15.6 |
34.8 |
|
1999 |
193 |
76.7 |
56.5 |
23.3 |
43.5 |
|
2004 |
219 |
90.9 |
63.9 |
9.1 |
36.1 |
Despite commanding more than 2/3 of the parliamentary seats throughout the Malaysian election history, the government has never been able to win more than 2/3 of the votes.
The closest they had got to 2/3 was in 1995 when the government won 65.2% of the votes. Yet in that year, they commanded 84.% of the seats.
In the last election in 2004, the government failed to better their 1995 record when they won on 63.9% of the votes but yet they commanded a record 199 seats or 90.9%.
Unless you believe in fool’s luck in favour of the government for the past 50 years, it would be impossible for the government to continuously win less than 2/3 of the votes but yet command up more than 2/3 and up to 90% of the seats without gerrymandering the seats.
The parliamentary representation since 1957 had not reflected the actual wishes of the people where more than 1/3 of the voters has voted for their voices to be heard, for a stronger oppostion (check and balance) and for a more responsible governance.
But all these voices are drowned and the public is led to believe that the government has the mandate of the people, a 2/3 majority mandate when in fact, they have never been able to get the votes of the people required to fulfill the 2/3 mandate.
