THE long-awaited six state elections – in Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Selangor and Kelantan - are coming closer and are expected to be held in August. 

Most analysts predict that Perikatan Nasional (PN) will continue to hold power in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu while Pakatan Harapan (PH) will extend its rule in Penang and Selangor and has a decent chance of defending Negri Sembilan. 

One interesting aspect to speculate on is whether these elections will produce the first zero-opposition state assembly in more than two decades, and if so, what are the implications for democracy in Malaysia? 

Riding high on the much-touted “Green Wave” since the last general election (GE15), PN has a real chance of making a clean sweep, especially in their traditional East Coast strongholds of Kelantan and Terengganu. 

After all, in GE15 PN went from merely three seats in the Perlis state assembly to winning 14 out of 15 seats, coming close to achieving a 100% victory, which has not happened since 1999. 

On the other hand, we should not discount the possibility that the alliance between PH and its long-time nemesis Barisan Nasional (BN) could achieve similar feats especially in the PH strongholds of Selangor and Penang. 

The last time an election produced a zero-opposition state assembly was the 1999 general election, where BN won all the seats in the state assemblies of Negri Sembilan and Johor. 

Interestingly, Negri Sembilan went from being one of the state assemblies where one coalition won outright in 1999 to being the state with the closest contests and most unpredictable results. 

It shows how much Malaysian politics has changed in the intervening two decades. 

Of course, BN is not the only coalition that has achieved the feat. For instance, in the 1990 general election, the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) consisting of PAS and Semangat 46 won all the state seats in Kelantan, thereby starting 33 years of PAS rule there. 

Since 1999, however, no coalition has managed to achieve a zero-opposition total victory in any of the state elections, despite some political leaders openly expressing such a goal. 

The most famous example would be Selangor BN under Mohd Khir Toyo in the 2008 general election. 

Having led the state BN to win 54 out of 56 state seats in the 2004 general election, the menteri besar confidently set the goal of totally eliminating the opposition from the state assembly in 2008, only to be defeated and later sent to jail for corruption. 

As ordinary Malaysians, should we be concerned if the zero-opposition state assembly makes a comeback? The answer is yes, we should. 

While it could be argued that a zero-opposition parliament or state assembly is good for the sake of efficiency, we should keep in mind that no political party, coalition, or government is perfect. 

While it might be good for a government to have a sound majority in parliament or state assemblies, a functioning opposition is needed as a check-and-balance mechanism. 

Having a weak opposition – whether in terms of quantity or quality – is bad enough, but not having any opposition at all is worse. 

The parliament or state assemblies will be at the total mercy of the governing parties which can then rule as they please. 

The first-past-the-post electoral system that we have been using since independence is flawed: It is prone to produce results that are less representative of voters’ intentions. 

It is a normal occurrence in this system where a party or coalition with the most votes wins a far bigger share of the seats compared to their share of votes. If the result is close, there is even a possibility that the winner of the popular vote is not the same as the winner of seats.  

For example, in the 2013 general election, Pakatan Rakyat won the popular vote but BN won the majority of seats. 

When implemented on a subnational or local level, first-past-the-post voting is also prone to produce total wipe-out for the victor, resulting in a zero-opposition subnational or local assembly. 

Therefore, it is probably time for us to review our electoral system as part of our institutional reform. 

One workable suggestion would be to adopt a mixed system that will maintain the current first-past-the-post seats while also adding in some seats based on proportional representation. 

Of course, it should also be noted that having a party or coalition win all seats in an election is not the only thing that could lead to a zero-opposition assembly. 

Another way to do so is by having all the parties and coalitions come together to form a government after the election. 

Part 2 of this article will discuss this post-election zero-opposition option. – July 3, 2023.

* Rayner Sylvester Yeo is a member of Agora Society. He was born in Sabah and is currently residing in Kuala Lumpur. Having grown up in a mixed-ethnic, multi-faith family and spent his working life in public, private and non-profit sectors, he believes diversity is the spice of life.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.