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Going Against the Tide: Sabah and the 2008 Malaysian General Election
Author(s) -
Chin James,
Puyok Arnold
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
asian politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1943-0787
pISSN - 1943-0779
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-0787.2010.01185.x
Subject(s) - general election , independence (probability theory) , politics , political science , national election , geography , power (physics) , front (military) , development economics , law , economics , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , meteorology
In the 2008 Malaysian general election, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN or National Front) lost its two‐thirds majority for the first time since independence. BN performed poorly in West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia) but was saved by a strong showing in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Understandably, these two states are expected to play a key role in helping BN stay in power in the next general elections. In this article, we shall examine the reasons why BN did well in Sabah. In the main, Sabah politics is still primarily driven by local factors due to its unique history and geographical location. As such, national issues, such as the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy case, do not connect with voters in Sabah.