Sunday, March 9, 2008

The Malaysian General Election Latest Results

Barisan National, the main coalition party had for the 1st time in history lost 5 States to the Opposition who may have also denied them of the 2/3 majority they needed in the Parliament. Its a cracking result for the Opposition and long over due. Most of the winning States majority had been reduced tremendously showing the frustration and dissatisfaction of our fellow Malaysians with the ruling government.

One point to note that in this election, the use of technology was at the highest with leaders from the Opposition engaging its voters with the use of social networks, blogs, text messaging, online video and emails. Even a prominent blogger, Jeff Ooi who was on an Opposition ticket had been elected to the Parliament. I wont say its the state of the technology that they are using had allowed them to win but I m sure it has contributed tremendously in the campaigning prior to election. Well done Jeff.

Below are the results so far :

State
Barisan Nasional (BN) - 306 seats
Opposition - 195 seats

Parliament
Barisan Nasional (BN) - 136 seats
Opposition - 82 seats

Here are some latest news from local online media to note:

- Barisan Nasional will form a new Government with simple majority.
- The opposition won Penang, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng might be the next Penang Chief Minister.
- The opposition has so far won Penang, Kedah, Selangor, Perak and Kelantan.
- MIC president S Samy Vellu loses his Sungai Siput parliamentary seat which he has held for nine terms.
- [Unofficial] The opposition has denied Barisan Nasional’s 2/3 majority.

This is definitely the best result so far for the Opposition since Malaysia Independence 50 years ago. I m glad that the people's power and voices had prevailed and its really now back to work for the Opposition. I m sure many promises and commitments had been made to their electorates and its time to deliver them. Long live the Opposition!

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