General elections were held in Malaysia between Thursday, 22 April and Monday, 26 April 1982.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p152 Voting took place in all 154 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. State elections also took place in 293 state constituencies (except Sabah and Sarawak) on the same day. It was the first election for Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister since his appointment to this position in 1981.

The result was a victory for Barisan Nasional, which won 132 of the 154 seats. The coalition made significant gains in urban constituencies, reducing the Democratic Action Party's representation from 16 seats to nine. Voter turnout was 74%.

Polling was conducted in stages. Most parliamentary constituencies voted on 22 April, while polling in Sabah was held on 26 April, when the remaining parliamentary results were determined.

Background The general election was called less than a year after Mahathir succeeded as Prime Minister in July 1981. It was the first general election contested under Mahathir's leadership and was widely regarded as the new administration's first electoral test.

On 21 March 1982, Mahathir announced that Parliament would be dissolved on 29 March and expressed hope that the general election would be held in April. He also advised all state governments, except Sabah and Sarawak, to dissolve their legislative assemblies. Sabah and Sarawak did not participate in the concurrent state elections, as they had held state elections in 1981 and 1979 respectively.

Campaign Following the dissolution of Parliament, Barisan Nasional finalised its list of candidates after separate meetings between Mahathir Mohamad and leaders of the coalition's component parties. On 5 April, Mahathir announced that the line-up had been completed. The coalition fielded 74 UMNO, 28 MCA, seven Gerakan, four MIC, 11 Berjaya, five USNO, seven SUPP, nine SNAP, eight PBB and one BERJASA candidates for parliamentary seats.

The BN campaign was led by Mahathir and Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam under the slogan "Efficient, Clean and Trustworthy" (Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah). As part of Mahathir's effort to project a reformist image, UMNO fielded a large number of new candidates, replacing nearly half of its previous parliamentary candidates, including several Menteri Besar candidates.

A notable development before the election was the entry of Anwar Ibrahim, the former president of the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), into UMNO. He contested the newly created parliamentary constituency of Permatang Pauh as a Barisan Nasional candidate.

PAS campaigned on an Islamic platform, using the slogan "The Quran is our constitution, the Prophet our guide, Islam our goal". During the campaign, the party questioned UMNO's commitment to Islamic principles and called for greater Islamisation.

Gerakan also broadened its electoral appeal by nominating several figures associated with the Chinese education movement.

During the campaign, Negeri Sembilan State Assembly Speaker Taha Talib was shot dead outside his home on 14 April, eight days before polling. The murder attracted widespread public attention and later resulted in the arrest and conviction of Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Mokhtar Hashim.

Results The election resulted in Barisan Nasional consolidating its electoral dominance, particularly among Malay voters. The coalition also recorded its strongest performance among Chinese voters since the 1964 general election. Contemporary political commentators attributed Barisan Nasional's improved performance in urban constituencies to strong support from first-time voters, while noting that the Democratic Action Party's vote share remained largely unchanged in many of its traditional strongholds. Total Registered Voters above refer to the total electorate of contested constituencies. Total Electorate for whole of 1982 inclusive 12 uncontested constituencies was 6081628.

There is conflicting information whether Berjasa was allocated to one or two parliamentary constituencies (subject which source being referenced too.

By state Source: Johore Total Registered voters above refer to the total electorate of contested constituencies. Total Electorate for Johor inclusive 4 uncontested constituencies was 757837.

Kedah

Kelantan

Kuala Lumpur

Malacca

Negeri Sembilan

Pahang

Penang

Perak In 1978, Bagan Datok was contested by Dato' Haji Hassan Adli as BN-Direct Candidate (no party affiliation). In 1982, Bagan Datok was contested by UMNO. This explains seat won change for UMNO increased by one (while collectively BN only had net increase of 4 seats when comparing from 1982 with 1978 results)

Perlis

Sabah The above registered voter count refers to total electorate of contested constituencies. Total Electorate for Sabah inclusive two uncontested constituencies would be 358609.

Sarawak The above registered voter count refers to total electorate of contested constituencies. Total Electorate for Sarawak inclusive six uncontested constituencies would be 513392.

Selangor

Trengganu

Conduct Polling, vote counting and post-election celebrations proceeded without major security incidents, despite closely contested races in several constituencies. Aftermath Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew congratulated Mahathir on Barisan Nasional's victory, describing it as "a massive vote of confidence" and expressing confidence that the result would strengthen bilateral cooperation and ASEAN solidarity.

Korean President Chun Doo-hwan also congratulated Mahathir, expressing confidence in Malaysia's continued progress and prosperity and hope for closer relations between the two countries.

See also Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 6th Malaysian Parliament 1982 Malaysian state elections First premiership of Mahathir Mohamad

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