The Transformation in Malaysia’s 12th General Election: The End of National Front Hegemony

Abstract

The ruling party Barisan Nasional (National Front) inherited the trust and tradition initiated by the Alliance Party that achieved the Malayan Independence. The Alliance first test was the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Council's election in 1952 where they won convincingly 12 out of 14 seats. The support continued in the 1955 General Election, where they won 51 out of 52 seats contested. Nevertheless in the 1969 election, the Alliance has experienced a major loss when they failed to get the two-third majority and even lost several state governments to the opposition. This party later changed its name into National Front in 1972 and simultaneously expanded their components into a bigger coalition party. It has become a unique political formula in Malaysian politics to reduce politicking and keeping the divided ethnicized parties together.

Explaining the relative success of a developmental state in economic development: a comparison of Malaysia and Ghana

“…In 1952, UMNO and MCA formed the UMNO-MCA alliance and contested in the local government and town council elections (Ahmad 2009). MIC later joined UMNO-MCA to run in the general elections of 1955 (Ahmad 2009). Following that, UMNO-MCA and MIC became the governing coalition.…”