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40 seats to thePenang State Legislative Assembly 21 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 846,232 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 735,639 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The13th Penang election was held on 5 May 2013. Polling took place in 40 constituencies throughout theState of Penang, with each electing a State Assemblyman to thePenang State Legislative Assembly. The election was conducted by theMalaysian Election Commission.
The legislative body had been dissolved on 5 April by theGovernor of Penang,Abdul Rahman Abbas, on the advice of the incumbentChief 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 byPsy,Busta Rhymes andLudacris inGeorge Town.[3][4] It was later revealed that BN's large-scale attempt at recapturing Penang, which it lost in theprevious election, received substantial financial funding fromJho Low, a Penang-born tycoon notorious for his involvement in the1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.[4][5]
The election was the 13th state election in theState of Penang since the independence ofMalaya (nowMalaysia) in 1957. The governingPakatan Rakyat (PR) had won theprevious election in 2008 and sought to secure their second consecutive term in office.
According to theConstitution of the State of Penang, thePenang 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, theChief Minister, as Penang'shead of government, may advise theGovernor, thehead 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. TheMalaysian 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]
ThePakatan Rakyat (PR), the ruling coalition inPenang, was led by the incumbentChief Minister,Lim Guan Eng. In the aftermath of the2008 state election, the PR controlled 29 out of the 40 seats in thePenang State Legislative Assembly.
The PR was opposed by theBarisan Nasional (BN), which was led by Teng Chang Yeow ofParti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan).[7]
| Coalition | Other parties | |
|---|---|---|
| Incumbent | Opposition | |
| Pakatan Rakyat | Barisan Nasional |
|
| ||
All 40 state constituencies within Penang, which form thePenang State Legislative Assembly, were contested during the election.
 |
| The state constituencies ofPenang (in blue) as of 2008. DAP-controlled seats PKR-controlled seats BN-controlled seats PAS-controlled seats |
The PR-ledPenang 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 inforeign direct investments into Penang since 2008, had been acclaimed byBloomberg, 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 theBarisan 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 fromJho Low, a Penang-born businessman who was involved with the1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a national investment fund established by theMalaysian 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 atAir 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]
Both thePakatan Rakyat (PR) andBarisan Nasional (BN) coalitions held rallies, known inMalay asceramah, 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 theHan Chiang College inGeorge Town on 29 April 2013 drew a crowd of 50,000; the key speakers during the rally includedLim Guan Eng,Lim Kit Siang,Karpal Singh andAnwar 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'sEsplanade.[19]
Meanwhile, the BN, learning from its defeat in theprevious election, organised a series of sponsored concerts, which were financially funded byJho Low. The most famous of all wasPsy's concert at the Han Chiang College on 11 February, days after theChinese New Year. Just before Psy appeared on-stage, it was theMalaysian 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 signatureGangnam Style.[16] Another concert was held at the same venue on 20 April, featuring international artistes such asBusta Rhymes,Ludacris,Gigi Leung,Alan Tam andHacken Lee.[20]
On 23 April 2013, animprovised explosive device (IED) exploded at aBarisan Nasional (BN) rally inSungai 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-linkedmat rempits (motorcycle hooligans) interrupted aPakatan Rakyat (PR) rally atGelugor.[22] A journalist was assaulted by themat 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 atAir 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.
| Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pakatan Rakyat | Democratic Action Party | 273,994 | 37.70 | 19 | 0 | ||
| People's Justice Party | 179,705 | 24.73 | 10 | +1 | |||
| Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party | 37,099 | 5.10 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 490,798 | 67.53 | 30 | +1 | |||
| Barisan Nasional | United Malays National Organisation | 123,251 | 16.96 | 10 | –1 | ||
| Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia | 66,461 | 9.14 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Malaysian Chinese Association | 35,852 | 4.93 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Malaysian Indian Congress | 7,682 | 1.06 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 233,246 | 32.09 | 10 | –1 | |||
| Love Malaysia Party | 216 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | |||
| People's Welfare Party | 159 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Independents | 2,332 | 0.32 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 726,751 | 100.00 | 40 | 0 | |||
| Valid votes | 726,751 | 98.79 | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 8,888 | 1.21 | |||||
| Total votes | 735,639 | 100.00 | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 846,232 | 86.93 | |||||
| Source:UNDI | |||||||
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 thePeople's Justice Party (PKR) candidate,Afif Bahardin; this increased the PR's tally in thePenang State Legislative Assembly to 30 seats. The PR also captured over+2⁄3 of the popular vote in Penang.
This was achieved in spite ofBarisan 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, theUnited Malays National Organisation (UMNO), was due to UMNO's choice of candidate.[8] The BN's popular vote also slipped from 40.96% in the2008 election to 32.09% in 2013. As with the 2008 election, BN's other component parties, namelyParti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), theMalaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and theMalaysian 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.
In 2015, it was revealed thatJho Low, the main financier ofBarisan Nasional's failed election campaign, had been involved in the1Malaysia 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 theUnited 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, thePakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition was disbanded, due to disagreements between theMalaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and theDemocratic Action Party (DAP) over the former's insistence to implement the Islamic penal code, known ashudud, in theState of Kelantan.[24] In place of the defunct coalition, the DAP and thePeople's Justice Party (PKR), together with newcomers, theNational Trust Party (Amanah) and theMalaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM), formed thePakatan 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 thePenang State Legislative Assembly just prior to the2018 State Election, while PAS controlled a single seat -Permatang Pasir - and UMNO the remaining 10 seats.[27]
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