1978 Malaysian general election|
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Registered | 5,059,689 |
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Turnout | 75.30% |
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| First party | Second party | Third party | | | | | Leader | Hussein Onn | Lim Kit Siang | Asri Muda | Party | BN | DAP | PAS | Last election | 60.81%, 135 seats | 18.32%, 9 seats | 13 seats | Seats won | 130 | 16 | 5 | Seat change | 5 | 7 | 8 | Popular vote | 1,987,907 | 664,433 | 537,720 | Percentage | 57.23% | 19.13% | 15.58% | Swing | 3.58pp | 0.81pp | – | |
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General elections were held in Malaysia between Saturday, 8 July and Saturday, 22 July 1978.[1] Voting took place in all 154 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. State elections also took place in 276 state constituencies (except Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak) on the same day.
It was Hussein Onn's first and only election since he became the country's third Prime Minister in 1976. His Barisan Nasional Party emerged victorious with 131 of the 154 seats in Parliament. Voter turnout was 75.3%.
As expected, Barisan Nasional comfortably maintained its majority in the Malaysian Parliament and thus, gave the Prime Minister the power to form a government with a free hand. Despite the victory, BN actually lost four seats out of 154 seats to the opposition.
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) withdrew from BN in the midst of the 1977 Kelantan Emergency over disagreements with UMNO over the running of the state government of Kelantan, which PAS had controlled since the first post-independence general election in 1959. With the support of UMNO, detractors within PAS split with the party and formed the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Front (BERJASA). In the election, PAS lost the control of the state for the first time to the UMNO-BERJASA alliance within BN and keeping administration by BN for 12 years until 1990. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has been credited for UMNO's victory in Kelantan.
The opposition garnered 42.8% of total votes. In spite of that, the opposition as one won only 23 seats. Democratic Action Party won the largest slice of the pie among the opposition parties and hence, its leader Lim Kit Siang retained his position as the leader of the opposition that he had obtained four years earlier.
Candidates were returned unopposed in nine constituencies. The registered electors from these constituencies therefore did not cast ballots.
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Dewan_Rakyat_1978_%28blocs%29.svg/360px-Dewan_Rakyat_1978_%28blocs%29.svg.png) |
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Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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| Barisan Nasional | | United Malays National Organisation | 1,987,907 | 57.23 | 69 | +7 |
| Malaysian Chinese Association | 17 | –2 |
| Sabah People's United Front | 9 | New |
| Sarawak National Party | 9 | 0 |
| Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu | 8 | 0 |
| Sarawak United Peoples' Party | 6 | –1 |
| United Sabah National Organisation | 5 | –8 |
| Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia | 4 | –1 |
| Malaysian Indian Congress | 3 | –1 |
| People's Progressive Party | 0 | –1 |
Total | 130 | –5 |
| Democratic Action Party | 664,433 | 19.13 | 16 | +7 |
| Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party | 537,720 | 15.48 | 5 | –8 |
| Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak | 35,009 | 1.01 | 0 | New |
| Malaysian Social Justice Party | 23,792 | 0.68 | 0 | –1 |
| Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia | 22,031 | 0.63 | 0 | 0 |
| Social Democratic Party | 13,788 | 0.40 | 0 | New |
| Sarawak People's Organisation | 10,150 | 0.29 | 1 | New |
| Social United Association Party | 5,594 | 0.16 | 0 | New |
| Sabah Democratic People's Party | 4,491 | 0.13 | 0 | New |
| Parti Umat Sarawak | 3,898 | 0.11 | 0 | New |
| Malaysian Workers' Party | 1,731 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| Sabah Chinese Association | 1,305 | 0.04 | 0 | –3 |
| Sarawak People's National Party | 861 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| Homeland Consciousness Union | 350 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | 160,370 | 4.62 | 2 | +1 |
Total | 3,473,430 | 100.00 | 154 | 0 |
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Valid votes | 3,473,430 | 96.57 | |
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Invalid/blank votes | 123,302 | 3.43 | |
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Total votes | 3,596,732 | 100.00 | |
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Registered voters/turnout | 4,776,361 | 75.30 | |
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Source: Nohlen et al. CLEA, Thambipillai |
Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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| Democratic Action Party | 101,306 | 54.98 | 3 | +1 |
| Barisan Nasional | | Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia | 27,908 | 15.15 | 1 | +1 |
| Malaysian Indian Congress | 18,239 | 9.90 | 0 | –1 |
| United Malays National Organisation | | 1 | 0 |
Total | 46,147 | 25.05 | 2 | 0 |
| Malaysian Social Justice Party | 17,988 | 9.76 | 0 | –1 |
| Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party | 12,006 | 6.52 | 0 | 0 |
| Malaysian Workers' Party | 1,731 | 0.94 | 0 | New |
| Independents | 5,072 | 2.75 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 184,250 | 100.00 | 5 | 0 |
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Valid votes | 184,250 | 98.97 | |
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Invalid/blank votes | 1,910 | 1.03 | |
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Total votes | 186,160 | 100.00 | |
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Registered voters/turnout | 261,783 | 71.11 | |
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Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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| Barisan Nasional | | United Malays National Organisation | 123,593 | 66.83 | 6 | -1 |
| Malaysian Chinese Association | 2 | +1 |
Total | 8 | 0 |
| Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party | 34,156 | 18.47 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic Action Party | 16,354 | 8.84 | 0 | 0 |
| Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia | 6,441 | 3.48 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | 4,384 | 2.37 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 184,928 | 100.00 | 8 | 0 |
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Valid votes | 184,928 | 95.21 | |
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Invalid/blank votes | 9,297 | 4.79 | |
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Total votes | 194,225 | 100.00 | |
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Registered voters/turnout | 258,024 | 75.27 | |
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Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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| Barisan Nasional | | United Malays National Organisation | 138,173 | 47.12 | 2 | -1 |
| Malaysian Chinese Association | 1 | -2 |
| Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia | 1 | -2 |
Total | 4 | -5 |
| Democratic Action Party | 79,918 | 27.26 | 4 | +4 |
| Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party | 31,667 | 10.80 | 1 | +1 |
| Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia | 10,044 | 3.43 | 0 | 0 |
| Social Democratic Party | 13,788 | 4.70 | 0 | 0 |
| Homeland Consciousness Union | 350 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | 19,280 | 6.58 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 293,220 | 100.00 | 9 | 0 |
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Valid votes | 293,220 | 96.60 | |
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Invalid/blank votes | 10,321 | 3.40 | |
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Total votes | 303,541 | 100.00 | |
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Registered voters/turnout | 383,134 | 79.23 | |
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Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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| Barisan Nasional | | Sabah People's United Front | 94,225 | 51.83 | 8 | New |
| United Sabah National Organisation | 5 | –8 |
Total | 14 | -8 |
| Democratic Action Party | 11,733 | 6.45 | 1 | +1 |
| Social United Association Party | 5,594 | 3.08 | 0 | New |
| Sabah Democratic People's Party | 4,491 | 2.47 | 0 | New |
| Sabah Chinese Association | 1,305 | 0.72 | 0 | –3 |
| Malaysian Social Justice Party | 921 | 0.51 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | 63,515 | 34.94 | 2 | +2 |
Total | 181,784 | 100.00 | 16 | 0 |
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Valid votes | 181,784 | 96.97 | |
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Invalid/blank votes | 5,682 | 3.03 | |
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Total votes | 187,466 | 100.00 | |
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Registered voters/turnout | 282,369 | 66.39 | |
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Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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| Barisan Nasional | | Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu | 52,222 | 20.38 | 8 | 0 |
| Sarawak National Party | 45,218 | 17.64 | 9 | 0 |
| Sarawak United Peoples' Party | 64,099 | 25.01 | 6 | -1 |
Total | 161,539 | 63.03 | 23 | -1 |
| Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak | 35,009 | 13.66 | 0 | New |
| Sarawak People's Organisation | 10,150 | 3.96 | 1 | New |
| Parti Umat Sarawak | 3,898 | 1.52 | 0 | New |
| Sarawak People's National Party | 861 | 0.34 | 0 | New |
| Independents | 44,831 | 17.49 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 256,288 | 100.00 | 24 | 0 |
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Valid votes | 256,288 | 96.49 | |
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Invalid/blank votes | 9,324 | 3.51 | |
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Total votes | 265,612 | 100.00 | |
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Registered voters/turnout | 385,345 | 68.93 | |
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Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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| Barisan Nasional | | United Malays National Organisation | 212,065 | 57.56 | 6 | +1 |
| Malaysian Chinese Association | 3 | -1 |
| Malaysian Indian Congress | 1 | 0 |
Total | 10 | 0 |
| Democratic Action Party | 111,050 | 30.14 | 1 | 0 |
| Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party | 36,615 | 9.94 | 0 | 0 |
| Malaysian Social Justice Party | 4,541 | 1.23 | 0 | 0 |
| Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia | 902 | 0.24 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | 3,257 | 0.88 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 368,430 | 100.00 | 11 | 0 |
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Valid votes | 368,430 | 96.18 | |
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Invalid/blank votes | 14,623 | 3.82 | |
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Total votes | 383,053 | 100.00 | |
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Registered voters/turnout | 515,497 | 74.31 | |
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