1990 Malaysian general election

← 1986

20–21 October 1990

1995 →

← outgoing members

Members elected →

All 180 seats in the Dewan Rakyat
91 seats needed for a majority

Registered

7,958,641


Leader	Mahathir Mohamad	Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (S46) Fadzil Noor (PAS)	Lim Kit Siang (DAP) Joseph Pairin Kitingan (USP)
Alliance	BN	APU	GR
Last election	57.28%, 148 seats	15.50, 1 seat^[a]	22.69%, 34 seats
Seats won	127	15	34
Seat change	21	14	4
Popular vote	2,985,392	1,218,211	1,113,488
Percentage	53.38%	21.78%	19.91%
Swing	3.90pp	6.28pp	2.78pp

Prime Minister before election

Mahathir Mohamad
BN

Prime Minister-designate

Mahathir Mohamad
BN

General elections were held in Malaysia on 20 and 21 October 1990. Voting took place in all 180 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament.^[1] State elections also took place in 351 state constituencies in 11 (out of 13, except Sabah and Sarawak) states of Malaysia on the same day.

The result was a victory for the Barisan Nasional (BN) at the federal level and state except state of Kelantan with opposition alliance Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) winning all 39 state assembly seats with 24 seats going to PAS and 15 for Semangat 46.^[2]

Background

The elections marked the first after United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party split and the subsequent constitutional crisis in 1988. The reconstituted UMNO Baru (New UMNO), led by incumbent Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and the newly formed Semangat 46 (S46), led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, contested for the first time in the elections.

It also marked the first time in country general election history when a credible, multi-ethnic coalition have been formed the challenge the dominance of Barisan Nasional. This also lead the country political scene from a dominant party system into two party system.^[3] The Muslim opposition parties, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Semangat 46, Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (BERJASA) and Parti Hizbul Muslimin Malaysia (HAMIM) teamed up to form the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU). On the other hand, Semangat 46, Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), which withdrew from the Barisan Nasional (BN) at the eleventh hour of the general election, teamed up as Gagasan Rakyat. However, these two opposition alliances cooperated in the election but not openly due to the sensitivity of the secular DAP and the Islamic PAS working together.

Results

At the federal level, the BN coalition under the leadership of incumbent Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad won 127 of the 180 parliament seats to form the federal government.


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	2,985,392	53.38	71	–12
			Malaysian Chinese Association			18	+1
			Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu			10	+2
			Malaysian Indian Congress			6	0
			United Sabah National Organisation			6	+1
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia			5	0
			Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak			4	–1
			Sarawak United Peoples' Party			4	0
			Sarawak National Party			3	–1
			People's Progressive Party			0	0
		Total				127	–21
	Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah		Semangat 46	842,342	15.06	8	New
			Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	375,869	6.72	7	+6
		Total		1,218,211	21.78	15	+14
	Gagasan Rakyat		Democratic Action Party	985,228	17.61	20	–4
			United Sabah Party	128,260	2.29	14	+4
		Total		1,113,488	19.91	34	0
	Parti Rakyat Malaysia			56,462	1.01	0	0
	Sarawak Malaysian People's Association			35,310	0.63	0	New
	People's Justice Front			12,655	0.23	0	New
	Sarawak United Labour Party			162	0.00	0	0
	Independents			171,547	3.07	4	0
Total				5,593,227	100.00	180	+3

Valid votes				5,593,227	97.24
Invalid/blank votes				158,498	2.76
Total votes				5,751,725	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				7,958,641	72.27
Source: Nohlen et al., CLEA, IPU

By state

Johor


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	426,854	61.49	12	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association			5	0
			Malaysian Indian Congress			1	0
		Total				18	0
	Semangat 46			142,227	20.49	0	New
	Democratic Action Party			104,840	15.10	0	0
	Parti Rakyat Malaysia			17,583	2.53	0	0
	Independents			2,707	0.39	0	0
Total				694,211	100.00	18	0

Valid votes				694,211	96.30
Invalid/blank votes				26,670	3.70
Total votes				720,881	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				972,171	74.15

Kedah


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	258,834	53.64	12	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	41,871	8.68	2	0
		Total		300,705	62.32	14	0
	Semangat 46			99,007	20.52	0	New
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party			76,936	15.94	0	0
	Democratic Action Party			5,360	1.11	0	0
	Independents			537	0.11	0	0
Total				482,545	100.00	14	0

Valid votes				482,545	97.02
Invalid/blank votes				14,838	2.98
Total votes				497,383	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				657,322	75.67

Kelantan


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Semangat 46		140,281	34.19	7	New
	Barisan Nasional	United Malays National Organisation	134,279	32.73	0	-12
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party		133,251	32.48	6	+5
	Independents		2,465	0.60	0	0
Total			410,276	100.00	13	0

Valid votes			410,276	97.58
Invalid/blank votes			10,173	2.42
Total votes			420,449	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			536,020	78.44

Kuala Lumpur


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional	United Malays National Organisation	153,723	43.11	3	0
	Democratic Action Party		141,724	39.75	4	0
	Semangat 46		33,417	9.37	0	New
	Parti Rakyat Malaysia		25,259	7.08	0	0
	Independents		2,432	0.68	0	0
Total			356,555	100.00	7	0

Valid votes			356,555	98.83
Invalid/blank votes			4,215	1.17
Total votes			360,770	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			527,834	68.35

Labuan


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional	United Malays National Organisation	7,130	59.69	1	+1
	Independents		4,816	40.31	0	–1
Total			11,946	100.00	1	0

Valid votes			11,946	98.64
Invalid/blank votes			165	1.36
Total votes			12,111	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			16,388	73.90

Malacca


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	120,233	60.55	3	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association			1	0
		Total				4	0
	Semangat 46			40,326	20.31	0	New
	Democratic Action Party			33,993	17.12	1	0
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party			4,019	2.02	0	0
Total				198,571	100.00	5	0

Valid votes				198,571	96.93
Invalid/blank votes				6,284	3.07
Total votes				204,855	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				265,059	77.29

Negeri Sembilan


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	152,118	60.25	4	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association			2	+2
			Malaysian Indian Congress			1	0
		Total				7	+2
	Democratic Action Party			58,521	23.18	0	-2
	Semangat 46			41,857	16.58	0	New
Total				252,496	100.00	7	0

Valid votes				252,496	96.95
Invalid/blank votes				7,935	3.05
Total votes				260,431	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				345,468	75.38

Pahang


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	203,504	63.04	7	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association			3	0
		Total				10	0
	Semangat 46			66,337	20.55	0	0
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party			29,960	9.28	0	0
	Democratic Action Party			23,030	7.13	0	0
Total				322,831	100.00	10	0

Valid votes				322,831	96.52
Invalid/blank votes				11,627	3.48
Total votes				334,458	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				452,997	73.83

Penang


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	85,315	20.38	4	0
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	64,485	15.40	1	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	63,732	15.22	0	0
		Total		213,532	51.00	5	0
	Democratic Action Party			170,053	40.61	6	0
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party			14,322	3.42	0	0
	Parti Rakyat Malaysia			13,620	3.25	0	0
	Semangat 46			7,174	1.71	0	New
Total				418,701	100.00	11	0

Valid votes				418,701	97.81
Invalid/blank votes				9,371	2.19
Total votes				428,072	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				559,223	76.55

Perak


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	391,628	56.17	11	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association			3	0
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia			3	0
			Malaysian Indian Congress			2	0
		Total				19	0
	Democratic Action Party			186,147	26.70	4	0
	Semangat 46			82,971	11.90	0	0
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party			33,955	4.87	0	0
	Independents			2,516	0.36	0	0
Total				697,217	100.00	23	0

Valid votes				697,217	96.87
Invalid/blank votes				22,514	3.13
Total votes				719,731	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				1,031,381	69.78

Perlis


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional	United Malays National Organisation	47,767	65.45	2	0
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party		13,154	18.02	0	0
	Semangat 46		12,056	16.52	0	New
Total			72,977	100.00	2	0

Valid votes			72,977	96.63
Invalid/blank votes			2,544	3.37
Total votes			75,521	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			99,097	76.21

Sabah


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United Sabah Party		128,261	41.04	14	+7
	Barisan Nasional	United Sabah National Organisation	57,365	18.36	6	-2
	Democratic Action Party		28,547	9.13	0	–4
	People's Justice Front		12,655	4.05	0	New
	Independents		85,688	27.42	0	–1
Total			312,516	100.00	20	0

Sarawak


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		Sarawak United Peoples' Party	262,092	57.07	4	0
			Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu			10	+2
			Sarawak National Party			3	-1
			Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak			4	-1
		Total				21	0
	Democratic Action Party			87,017	18.95	2	+1
	Sarawak Malaysian People's Association			35,310	7.69	0	0
	Sarawak United Labour Party			162	0.04	0	0
	Independents			74,635	16.25	4	+2
Total				459,216	100.00	27	+3

Valid votes				459,216	98.38
Invalid/blank votes				7,571	1.62
Total votes				466,787	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				688,216	67.83

Selangor


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	380,021	58.19	7	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association			2	-1
			Malaysian Indian Congress			2	0
		Total				11	-1
	Democratic Action Party			145,996	22.36	3	+1
	Semangat 46			114,683	17.56	0	New
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party			12,358	1.89	0	0
Total				653,058	100.00	14	0

Valid votes				653,058	96.88
Invalid/blank votes				21,001	3.12
Total votes				674,059	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				922,615	73.06

Terengganu


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional	United Malays National Organisation	141,561	54.11	6	-2
	Semangat 46		62,006	23.70	1	New
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party		57,488	21.97	1	+1
	Independents		565	0.22	0	0
Total			261,620	100.00	8	0

Valid votes			261,620	97.37
Invalid/blank votes			7,063	2.63
Total votes			268,683	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			326,393	82.32

Notes

References

^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p152 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
^ Francis Kok-Wah Loh; Francis Loh Kok Wah; Boo Teik Khoo; Khoo Boo Teik (2002). Democracy in Malaysia: Discourses and Practices. Routledge. p. 95. ISBN 0-7007-1161-9.
^ Khong, (1991) Malaysia's General Election 1990: Continuity, Change, and Ethnic Politics, p1 ISBN 981-3035-77-3

Arah Aliran Malaysia: Penilaian Pilihan Raya satu himpunan kerta kertas 62-halaman daripada Institut Penyelidikan Asia Tenggara selepas pilihan raya 1999.

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See also: Federal by-elections State by-elections Elections in Johor Kedah Kelantan Kuala Lumpur Labuan Malacca Negeri Sembilan Pahang Penang Perak Perlis Putrajaya Sabah Sarawak Selangor Terengganu