The 2021 Malacca state election, formally the 15th Malacca state election, took place on 20 November 2021. This election was to elect 28 members of the 15th Malacca State Legislative Assembly. The previous assembly was dissolved on 4 October 2021.[1]
The snap election of the state was called prematurely following a political crisis. It came after four members of the assembly (MLA) who had previously supported incumbent Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali announced the loss of confidence and withdrawal of their support for him on 4 October 2021.[2] They are former Chief Minister, Member of the State Executive Council (EXCO), Sungai Udang MLA Idris Haron and Pantai Kundor MLA Nor Azman Hassan from BN, independent (IND) EXCO member, Pengkalan Batu MLA Norhizam Hassan Baktee as well as EXCO member, Telok Mas MLA Noor Effandi Ahmad from PN.
Malacca became the fourth state in Malaysia (since 2021) that did not hold a state election simultaneously with the general election after Sabah (1967–1999 and since 2020), Sarawak (since 1979), and Kelantan (March 1978). This is also the first election following Ismail Sabri Yaakob's appointment as Prime Minister on 21 August 2021 and also the first state election held in the Malay Peninsula since the fall of the Pakatan Harapan state and federal governments in 2020.
This election was unique because it featured two major coalition parties in the government, namely Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional, competing against each other. BN, through UMNO, had announced that it would not cooperate with Perikatan Nasional, led by Parti Peribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU). Such competition between former coalition partners had previously only occurred in East Malaysia.[3]
Barisan Nasional (BN) won a landslide victory in the state election, winning 21 seats in the legislature and a two-thirds majority. Pakatan Harapan (PH) suffered a major defeat, winning just 5 seats, with the People's Justice Party (PKR) losing all its contested seats. Perikatan Nasional (PN) won 2 seats.
Elections in Malaysia are conducted at the federal and state levels. Federal elections elect members of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state elections in each of the 13 states elect members of their respective state legislative assembly. As Malaysia follows the Westminster system of government, the head of government (Prime Minister at the federal level and the Menteri Besar/Chief Ministers at the state level) is the person who commands the confidence of the majority of members in the respective legislature – this is normally the leader of the party or coalition with the majority of seats in the legislature.
The Legislative Assembly consists of 28 members, known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), that are elected for five-year terms. Each MLA is elected from a single-member constituencies using the first-past-the-post voting system; each constituency contains approximately an equal number of voters. If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the government, with its leader becoming the Chief Minister. In the event of a hung parliament, where no single party obtains the majority of seats, the government may still form through a coalition or a confidence and supply agreement with other parties. In practice, coalitions and alliances in Malaysia, and by extension, in Malacca, generally persist between elections, and member parties do not normally contest for the same seats.
The following members of the 14th State Legislative Assembly retired.
Note: 1Independent candidates form 'Gagasan Bebas' informal Independent bloc and contested using the various symbols.[21]
Barisan Nasional won 4 of 6 parliamentary constituency, including Masjid Tanah and Alor Gajah, which is held by Perikatan Nasional and Tangga Batu, which is held by Pakatan Harapan.
Sulaiman were sworn in as Chief Minister of Malacca for the second time, on the morning of 21 November, a day after the election.[22] He holds the role until 30 March 2023, when he tendered his resignation letter to the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca. He was replaced by Ab Rauf Yusoh, MLA for Tanjung Bidara and the UMNO state leader of Malacca, who was sworn in on 31 March 2023.[23] Six days after Ab Rauf's appointment, a minor EXCO reshuffle took place on 5 April, where 2 EXCO members were dropped and 3 EXCO members were added, including one Pakatan Harapan MLA, in a swearing in ceremony.[24] The new EXCO lineup is to reflect the government pact between PH and BN after the general election in November 2022.[25] In response to Rauf's appointment, Muhammad Jailani Khamis, one of the EXCO members dropped in the reshuffle announced his withdrawal of support to the Rauf-led state government, although he is not resigning from UMNO and requested to the party's disciplinary board to decide on his status.[26]
