2013 Kedah state election

2013 Kedah state election
← outgoing members members elected →
All 36 seats in the Kedah State Legislative Assembly; 19 seats needed for a majority
Menteri Besar before election; Azizan Abdul Razak; Pakatan Rakyat (PAS)	Elected Menteri Besar ; Mukhriz Mahathir; Barisan Nasional (UMNO)

The 13th Kedah state election was held on 5 May 2013. Polling took place in 36 constituencies throughout the Malaysian state of Kedah, with each electing a State Assemblyman to the Kedah State Legislative Assembly. The election was conducted by the Malaysian Election Commission. The state election was held concurrently with the 2013 Malaysian general election.

Barisan Nasional (BN), having lost the state for the first time in their history in the 2008 election, regains the state government after winning 21 of the 36 seats.^[1] Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the informal coalition of Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), won the remaining 15 seats to become the main opposition.

This election is the only time the DAP-PAS-PKR coalition is referred as Pakatan Rakyat during the Kedah state election campaign (although each party is contesting using their own name and logo), and also the final Kedah state election which the three parties works as a coalition; PR splits in 2015 due to disagreements between DAP and PAS.

Background edit

Political parties edit

Electoral divisions edit

Issues edit

Campaign edit

Social media edit

Rallies edit

Results edit


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	449,278	50.49	19	+7
			Malaysian Chinese Association			2	+1
			Malaysian Indian Congress			0	0
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia			0	–1
		Total				21	+7
	Pakatan Rakyat		Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	289,174	32.50	9	–7
			People's Justice Party	127,702	14.35	4	0
			Democratic Action Party	17,745	1.99	2	+1
		Total		434,621	48.84	15	-6
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Front			898	0.10	0	0
	Malaysian United People's Party			192	0.02	0	0
	People's Welfare Party			357	0.04	0	0
	Independents			4,485	0.50	0	–1
Total				889,831	100.00	36	0

Aftermath edit

Mukhriz Mahathir, the UMNO and BN state chairman and MLA for Ayer Hitam, were sworn in as the new Kedah Menteri Besar on the next day, in front of the Sultan of Kedah.^[2] But on 3 February 2016, Mukhriz resigned as Menteri Besar after facing no-confidence vote in the state assembly, and were replaced by Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah.^[3]^[4]^[5] Mukhriz later was sacked from UMNO on 24 June the same year, and together with his father Mahathir Mohamad and other sacked UMNO members formed Malaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM/BERSATU) a month later.

The previous Menteri Besar and MLA for Sungai Limau, Azizan Abdul Razak died on 26 September 2013 due to internal organ failure and bacterial infection.^[6] His death triggered the 2013 Sungai Limau by-election, which were won by PAS candidate to retain the seat.

In 2015, the PR coalition was disbanded, due to disagreements between PAS and DAP over the former's insistence to implement the Islamic penal code, known as hudud, in the State of Kelantan.^[7] Also in 2015, a group of progressives in PAS led by Mohamad Sabu exits the party after losing in the party election, later forming National Trust Party (Amanah). Amanah joined forces with DAP and PKR in forming a successor coalition to PR, later known as Pakatan Harapan (PH) after PPBM/BERSATU joined the coalition in 2017.^[8] As a result of the split, PH were reduced to 6 seats in the state assembly, but later gained 3 seats after defection of 2 PAS MLA (Phahrolrazi Zawawi to Amanah, Amiruddin Hamzah to PPBM/BERSATU) and 1 UMNO MLA (Mukhriz to PPBM/BERSATU).

Notes edit

^ All the figures of votes and seats are a combined result of all the component parties in BN.

References edit

^ "BN rampas semula Kedah, gagal di Selangor dan Kelantan". www.astroawani.com (in Malay). Astro AWANI Network Sdn. Bhd. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
^ "Mukhriz Menteri Besar Kedah yang baharu". Borneo Post Online (in Malay). Borneo Post Online Sdn Bhd. Bernama. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
^ ABDUL RAHMAN, IZRA (2 February 2016). "Usul Sidang DUN Tentukan Nasib Mukhriz - Adun Pembangkang Kedah". www.mstar.com.my (in Malay). Star Media Group Berhad. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
^ "Mukhriz resigns". The Edge Malaysia. The Edge Communications Sdn. Bhd. Bernama/The Malaysian Insider. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
^ NAMBIAR, PREDEEP (3 February 2016). "Ahmad Bashah new Kedah MB [VIDEO]". New Straits Times. New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
^ "Bekas MB Kedah Azizan Razak meninggal dunia". Malaysiakini (in Malay). 26 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
^ hermesauto (2015-06-18). "Break up of Malaysia's opposition bloc Pakatan Rakyat: What happened and what's next?". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
^ Liew Chin Tong (2017-08-15). "The Day Pakatan Harapan Found its Footing". Penang Monthly. Penang Institute. Archived from the original on 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2023-04-16.