Wee Hong · CC BY-SA 4.0
Every election1955 to today
Sixteen federal elections, one dot per seat.
The chamber, election by election
195552 seats
1955
1955 Federal Legislative Council election
First nationwide federal election before Merdeka; Alliance won 51 of 52 seats.
1959 · GE1
GE1 (1959)
First post-independence general election; Alliance government under Tunku Abdul Rahman.
1964 · GE2
GE2 (1964)
Held during Konfrontasi with Indonesia; Alliance strengthened.
1969 · GE3
GE3 (1969)
The completed 144-seat result table records Perikatan with 90 seats—below the 96 needed for a two-thirds majority; the election was followed by the 13 May violence and an emergency suspension of parliamentary rule.
1974 · GE4
GE4 (1974)
First election contested by the new Barisan Nasional under Abdul Razak.
1978 · GE5
GE5 (1978)
Hussein Onn led Barisan Nasional (BN) at the first general election held after he succeeded Abdul Razak as Prime Minister in 1976.
1982 · GE6
GE6 (1982)
Mahathir's first general election as PM; BN won a large parliamentary majority.
1986 · GE7
GE7 (1986)
Held amid economic downturn; prelude to the UMNO Team A/Team B split.
1990 · GE8
GE8 (1990)
First serious two-front challenge: Semangat 46 with Gagasan Rakyat and APU.
1995 · GE9
GE9 (1995)
Polling was held on 24 and 25 April 1995. BN won 162 of 192 seats and 65.15 per cent of the popular vote, its highest vote share of any general election held while Mahathir Mohamad was Prime Minister.
1999 · GE10
GE10 (1999)
Post-Reformasi election in which Barisan Alternatif contested and PAS increased its parliamentary representation.
2004 · GE11
GE11 (2004)
Abdullah Badawi's high-water mark; BN's largest-ever share of seats.
2008 · GE12
GE12 (2008)
The 'political tsunami': BN lost two-thirds majority and five states; birth of Pakatan Rakyat.
2018 · GE14
GE14 (2018)
Malaysia's first federal change of government; Pakatan Harapan defeated BN.
2022 · GE15
GE15 (2022)
First hung parliament; resolved by the unity government under Anwar Ibrahim.