2013 Penang state election

The 13th Penang election was held on 5 May 2013. Polling took place in 40 constituencies throughout the State of Penang, with each electing a State Assemblyman to the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The election was conducted by the Malaysian Election Commission.

2013 Penang state election
5 May 2013 (2013-05-05)
40 seats to the Penang State Legislative Assembly
21 seats needed for a majority
Registered846,232
Turnout735,639
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Lim Guan Eng Teng Chang Yeow
Party Pakatan Rakyat (DAP) Barisan Nasional (Gerakan)
Leader since 2008  ()
Leader's seat Air Putih Bukit Tengah (lost)
Last election 29 seats, 58.90% 11 seats, 40.96%
Seats before 29 11
Seats won 30 10
Seat change 1 1
Popular vote 490,978 233,246
Percentage 67.53% 32.09%
Swing 8.63% 8.87%
Pakatan Rakyat seats:
  DAP
  PKR
  PAS

Opposition seats:

  UMNO
Chief Minister before election

Lim Guan Eng
Pakatan Rakyat (DAP)

 Elected Chief Minister

Lim Guan Eng
Pakatan Rakyat (DAP)

The legislative body had been dissolved on 5 April by the Governor of Penang, Abdul Rahman Abbas, on the advice of the incumbent Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, who also led the state's ruling coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR).[1] Electoral candidates were nominated on 20 April.[2]

The PR not only successfully defended its two-thirds majority in the Penang State Legislative Assembly, it also captured an additional constituency from the state opposition, Barisan Nasional (BN), bringing PR's tally to 30 seats. This was despite BN's massive campaign in Penang, which included sponsored performances by Psy, Busta Rhymes and Ludacris in George Town.[3][4] It was later revealed that BN's large-scale attempt at recapturing Penang, which it lost in the previous election, received substantial financial funding from Jho Low, a Penang-born tycoon notorious for his involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.[4][5]

Background

The election was the 13th state election in the State of Penang since the independence of Malaya (now Malaysia) in 1957. The governing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had won the previous election in 2008 and sought to secure their second consecutive term in office.

According to the Constitution of the State of Penang, the Penang State Legislative Assembly, the legislature of Penang, has a maximum term of five years, starting from the date of the first sitting of Assembly following a state election.[6] However, the Chief Minister, as Penang's head of government, may advise the Governor, the head of state, to dissolve the Assembly before the five-year period is up. On 5 April 2013, the Governor of Penang, Abdul Rahman Abbas, gave his consent to the incumbent Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng, to dissolve the Assembly.[1]

A state election must be held within sixty days after the dissolution. The Malaysian Election Commission set 20 April as the nomination day and 5 May as the polling day, providing for a campaigning period of 15 days.[2]

Political parties

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the ruling coalition in Penang, was led by the incumbent Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng. In the aftermath of the 2008 state election, the PR controlled 29 out of the 40 seats in the Penang State Legislative Assembly.

The PR was opposed by the Barisan Nasional (BN), which was led by Teng Chang Yeow of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan).[7]

Coalition Other parties
Incumbent Opposition
Pakatan Rakyat Barisan Nasional

Electoral constituencies
Main article: Constituencies of Penang

All 40 state constituencies within Penang, which form the Penang State Legislative Assembly, were contested during the election.

The state constituencies of Penang (in blue) as of 2008.
  DAP-controlled seats
  PKR-controlled seats
  BN-controlled seats
  PAS-controlled seats

Campaign
Barisan Nasional (BN) flags placed indiscriminately along a street in George Town. This haphazard act, which marred much of the cityscape, incensed Penangites and was speculated to have contributed to BN's defeat in the election.[8]

The PR-led Penang state government campaigned by emphasising the administration's achievements during its five-year tenure, including social welfare policies targeted at the needy and its success at cutting the state's public debts by 95%.[9][10] The latter, along with a sharp increase in foreign direct investments into Penang since 2008, had been acclaimed by Bloomberg, an American news outlet, as "Malaysia's biggest economic success"; the article added that "Penang’s economic resurgence may bolster Pakatan Rakyat’s claim that it can be an alternative to the Barisan Nasional (BN), which has run the country since independence from British rule in 1957".[11]

The BN, on the other hand, relied conspicuously on financial backing from Jho Low, a Penang-born businessman who was involved with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a national investment fund established by the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak.[4][5] Lavish funds were spent on campaigning materiel and events, including free-of-charge public dinners, lucky draws and concerts featuring famous international artistes. Prime Minister Najib also made magnanimous pledges to Penangites in the course of the campaign, such as the construction of 9,999 affordable housing units at Air Itam by 1MDB and a monorail system within Penang.[12][13]

The BN's campaign excesses became more apparent towards the polling day, with tens of thousands of 1Malaysia and BN flags placed haphazardly across the streets of George Town; in many instances, the blue flags marred the city's landscape.[8][14] Once again, Jho Low was allegedly behind the production of such an unprecedented amount of flags. The chief of BN in Penang, Teng Chang Yeow, even reportedly plead to Jho Low's men to put up the flags properly, while denying that the BN was responsible for the voluminous amount of BN-linked flags throughout the city.[15]

Rallies and concerts
Psy performing Gangnam Style during a Barisan Nasional (BN) rally at Han Chiang College in George Town on 11 February 2013.[3][16]

Both the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions held rallies, known in Malay as ceramah, throughout Penang during the campaigning period just prior to the polling day. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rallies, in particular, attracted record-breaking turnouts and generated a sizeable sum of donations. For instance, a PR rally at the Han Chiang College in George Town on 29 April 2013 drew a crowd of 50,000; the key speakers during the rally included Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh and Anwar Ibrahim.[17][18] A few days later, an even larger PR rally, which was attended by more than 100,000 people, was held at George Town's Esplanade.[19]

Meanwhile, the BN, learning from its defeat in the previous election, organised a series of sponsored concerts, which were financially funded by Jho Low. The most famous of all was Psy's concert at the Han Chiang College on 11 February, days after the Chinese New Year. Just before Psy appeared on-stage, it was the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak's turn to give a speech. Najib proceeded by repeatedly asking the crowd "Are you ready for Psy?" and the spectators responded "Yes". However, he next asked "Are you ready for BN?", which was met by a resounding "No!" from the crowd.[3] The spectators also dispersed immediately after Psy finished performing his signature Gangnam Style.[16] Another concert was held at the same venue on 20 April, featuring international artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Gigi Leung, Alan Tam and Hacken Lee.[20]

Incidents

On 23 April 2013, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at a Barisan Nasional (BN) rally in Sungai Jawi. The explosion caused no casualty, apart from a BN employee who was slightly injured.[21] A second bomb, found later at the scene, was safely detonated by the police.

On 24 April, BN-linked mat rempits (motorcycle hooligans) interrupted a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rally at Gelugor.[22] A journalist was assaulted by the mat rempits for attempting to take photographs of the incident.

During the polling day on 5 May, a gang of BN extremists gathered at a polling centre at Air Itam and provoked PR supporters, leading to a fistfight between both groups.[23] More onlookers joined the fight and attacked the BN extremists, causing the BN gang to flee the scene.

Results

Seats won

  Pakatan Rakyat (75%)
  Barisan Nasional (25%)

Popular vote

  Pakatan Rakyat (67.53%)
  Barisan Nasional (32.09%)
  Love Malaysia Party (0.03%)
  Homeland Human's Wellbeing Party (0.02%)
  Independent (0.32%)
 Summary of the 5 May 2013 Penang State Legislative Assembly election results
Votes % of vote +/– Seats % of seats +/–
Pakatan Rakyat:490,79867.538.633075.01
Democratic Action Party (DAP)273,99437.705.451947.5
People's Justice Party (PKR)179,70524.734.311025.01
Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)37,0995.101.1312.5
Barisan Nasional:233,24632.098.871025.01
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)123,25116.960.341025.01
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan)66,4619.143.9900.0
Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)35,8524.934.3000.0
Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)7,6821.060.2400.0
Independents and others2,7070.370.2300.0
Independents2,3320.320.1800.0
Love Malaysia Party (PCM)2160.030.0300.0
People's Welfare Party (KITA)1590.020.0200.0
Valid votes726,75198.79
Invalid/blank votes8,8881.21
Total votes735,63910040100
Registered voters846,23286.93

Source: undi.info

An animated electoral map of Penang, depicting the state constituencies gained by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the 2013 Election.
  DAP-controlled seats
  PKR-controlled seats
  BN-controlled seats
  PAS-controlled seats

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) emerged from the election in a much stronger position, as it gained one additional constituency - Seberang Jaya - which was won by the People's Justice Party (PKR) candidate, Afif Bahardin; this increased the PR's tally in the Penang State Legislative Assembly to 30 seats. The PR also captured over ​ 2⁄3 of the popular vote in Penang.

This was achieved in spite of Barisan Nasional's massive and lavish campaign to retake Penang. It was speculated that the loss of Seberang Jaya, which had been held by BN's dominant party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), was due to UMNO's choice of candidate.[8] The BN's popular vote also slipped from 40.96% in the 2008 election to 32.09% in 2013. As with the 2008 election, BN's other component parties, namely Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), failed to win any seat, leaving UMNO, which won the remaining 10 seats in the Penang State Legislative Assembly, as the state opposition once again.

Aftermath

In 2015, it was revealed that Jho Low, the main financier of Barisan Nasional's failed election campaign, had been involved in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal; Jho allegedly served as BN's senior strategist in Penang, funded free-of-charge public dinners, concerts and lucky draws during the election via the 1Malaysia Penang Welfare Club, and told the BN candidates that his funds would be made available to them upon request.[4][5] A source from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), who spoke on the condition of anonymity, commented that "the money was flowing like hell", adding that the funds, which were initially assumed to originate from corporate donors, did not pass through the party's official channels.[5]

Also in the same year, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition was disbanded, due to disagreements between the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP) over the former's insistence to implement the Islamic penal code, known as hudud, in the State of Kelantan.[24] In place of the defunct coalition, the DAP and the People's Justice Party (PKR), together with newcomers, the National Trust Party (Amanah) and the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM), formed the Pakatan Harapan (PH) in 2017; the PH subsequently announced its Penang leadership line-up as well.[25][26] As a result of the departure of PAS from the PR, the coalition's successor, the PH, retained 29 seats in the Penang State Legislative Assembly just prior to the 2018 State Election, while PAS controlled a single seat - Permatang Pasir - and UMNO the remaining 10 seats.[27]

See also

References
  1. Shankar, Athi (5 April 2013). "Penang assembly dissolved, EC to decide dates on Wednesday". Free Malaysia Today. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  2. Woon, Leven; Ariffin, Lisa (10 April 2013). "Polls fixed for May 5". Free Malaysia Today. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  3. Loone, Susan (11 February 2013). "PM asks: Are you ready for BN? Crowd says 'No!'". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  4. Story, Louise; Saul, Stephanie (8 February 2015). "Jho Low, Well Connected in Malaysia, Has an Appetite for New York". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  5. "Jho Low helped disburse BN election spending". Malaysiakini. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  6. "Constitution of the State of Penang" (PDF). Penang State Legislative Assembly.
  7. "Gerakan's Teng in spotlight again". Free Malaysia Today. 19 November 2011. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  8. "BN retains Putrajaya, Pakatan gains seven seats". Malaysiakini. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. Shankar, Athi (16 April 2013). "Pakatan targets Muslims with Penang manifesto". Free Malaysia Today. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  10. "Penang seeks convergence of the manufacturing, services and government sector to propel Penang's escape from the middle-income trap to high-income economy status of USD15,000 per capita by 2020". dapmalaysia.org. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  11. "Bloomberg praises Guan Eng for Penang's success". Malaysiakini. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  12. "Amid questions, 1MDB now says may sell Pulau indah, Air Itam real estate | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  13. "Najib: BN will solve Penang's housing and traffic woes - Nation | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  14. Lim, Kit Siang (14 February 2013). "56-Day Countdown to 13 GE –Turn Najib's three self-inflicted embarrassments at the RM3.5 million Psy and Gangnam Style bash into a boon for Malaysia". Lim Kit Siang.
  15. "Penang BN names 30 new faces for the state's 53 constituencies - Community | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  16. "Psy keeps it short, sweet and sweaty". Malaysiakini. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  17. "General Election 13: Election in Penang/Pulau Pinang! – AwesomePenang.com". www.awesomepenang.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  18. "Penang PR election campaign kicks into high gear | theSundaily". www.thesundaily.my. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  19. Donoghue, Tim (2014). Karpal Singh, Tiger of Jelutong: The Full Biography. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9789814634885.
  20. "1Malaysia Penang International Charity Drive concert attracts thousands - Nation | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  21. "GE13: Police - Blast at BN ceramah caused by IED; second device found - Nation | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  22. "Teng: Unruly Mat Rempits not ours". Free Malaysia Today. 25 April 2013. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  23. "Rival groups scuffle in Air Puteh". Free Malaysia Today. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  24. hermesauto (18 June 2015). "Break up of Malaysia's opposition bloc Pakatan Rakyat: What happened and what's next?". The Straits Times. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  25. "The Day Pakatan Harapan Found its Footing". The Day Pakatan Harapan Found its Footing, Pakatan Harapan, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  26. "Penang unveils Pakatan state leadership | The Malaysian Insight". www.themalaysianinsight.com. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  27. "Focus: Crowded field but Pakatan set to prevail in Penang". The Edge Markets. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
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