electionstracker

Malaysia 1990 general election

What was the result of the 1990 general election in Malaysia?

United Malays National Organisation won 71 of 180 seats with 30.4% of the vote. 72.6% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Malaysia
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • Malaysian Election Corpus, read 8 November 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Results published by the Malaysian Election Corpus, read : United Malays National Organisation won 71 of 180 seats with 30.4% of the vote; 72.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 2.6 points on 1986.

  • United Malays National Organisation 71 −12 seats 30.4% −1.5 points
  • Democratic Action Party 20 −4 seats 17.2% −3.9 points
  • Spirit of 46 Malay Party 8 14.8%
  • Malaysian Chinese Association 18 +1 seat 12.2% −0.6 points
  • Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 7 +6 seats 6.7% −8.8 points
  • Malaysian People's Movement Party 5 0 seats 3.2% 0.0 points
  • Parti Bersatu Sabah 14 +4 seats 2.3% +0.7 points
  • Malaysian Indian Congress 6 0 seats 2.1% −0.2 points
  • Sarawak United Peoples' Party 4 0 seats 1.8% −0.2 points
  • Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak 10 +2 seats 1.8% +0.8 points
  • United Sabah National Organisation 6 +1 seat 0.9% +0.3 points
  • Sarawak National Party 3 −2 seats 0.6% −0.1 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Malaysia 1986 general election, party by party.

91 of 180 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 30.4%

    Share of the vote won by United Malays National Organisation

    United Malays National Organisation won 71 of 180 seats. A majority needs 91.

  2. +6 seats

    Seats gained by Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1986. United Malays National Organisation lost 12 seats.

  3. 72.6%

    Voter turnout

    Up 2.6 points on 1986.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
United Malays National Organisation71−1230.4−1.51,699,949
Democratic Action Party20−417.2−3.9960,841
Spirit of 46 Malay Party814.8825,215
Malaysian Chinese Association18+112.2−0.6680,045
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party7+66.7−8.8375,869
Independents403.20.0179,239
Malaysian People's Movement Party503.20.0178,305
Parti Bersatu Sabah14+42.3+0.7128,260
Malaysian Indian Congress602.1−0.2114,756
Sarawak United Peoples' Party401.8−0.2102,687
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak10+21.8+0.8101,061
Malaysian People's Party001.0−0.356,462
The other parties and groups
PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
United Sabah National Organisation6+10.9+0.350,235
Sarawak National Party3−20.6−0.135,754
All Malaysia Indian Progressive Front00.632,895
Sarawak Malaysian People's Association00.527,618
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak400.4−0.122,590
People's Justice Movement00.212,655
Malaysian Muslim People's Party0−10.2−0.58,619
Sarawak United Labour Party000.00.0162

± is the change against the Malaysia 1986 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • United Malays National Organisation 1,699,949
  • Democratic Action Party 960,841
  • Spirit of 46 Malay Party 825,215
  • Malaysian Chinese Association 680,045
  • Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 375,869
  • Independents 179,239
  • Malaysian People's Movement Party 178,305
  • Parti Bersatu Sabah 128,260
  • Malaysian Indian Congress 114,756
  • Sarawak United Peoples' Party 102,687
  • Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak 101,061
  • Malaysian People's Party 56,462
  • United Sabah National Organisation 50,235
  • Sarawak National Party 35,754
  • All Malaysia Indian Progressive Front 32,895
  • Sarawak Malaysian People's Association 27,618
  • Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak 22,590
  • People's Justice Movement 12,655
  • Malaysian Muslim People's Party 8,619
  • Sarawak United Labour Party 162

Source: Malaysian Election Corpus (MECo) by Thevesh Thevananthan, which collects the Election Commission of Malaysia's reports of the 1990 federal election, open data under CC0. Shown in our own layout: a party's votes and seats are added up by us from the candidates' rows, and the shares, the turnout, the change on the election before and the indices are worked out by us.

A party's votes are the votes of its candidates added up, and its seats are the constituencies where its candidate won. A share is a party's votes over all valid votes in the constituencies where a vote was held. Candidates who stood without a party are one row, Independents.

2 of the 180 seats were won without a vote, because only one candidate stood. They count as seats for the winner's party and add no votes.

The turnout counts the valid and the rejected votes over the voters on the roll in the constituencies where a vote was held. A constituency won without a vote is left out.

How many people voted?

72.6% of the 7,924,181 registered voters cast a ballot (5,751,905 ballots), up 2.6 points on 1986. 5,593,217 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • United Malays National Organisation30.4% of votes39.4% of seats
  • Democratic Action Party17.2% of votes11.1% of seats
  • Malaysian Chinese Association12.2% of votes10.0% of seats
  • Parti Bersatu Sabah2.3% of votes7.8% of seats
  • Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak1.8% of votes5.6% of seats
  • Spirit of 46 Malay Party14.8% of votes4.4% of seats
  • Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party6.7% of votes3.9% of seats
  • Malaysian Indian Congress2.1% of votes3.3% of seats
  • United Sabah National Organisation0.9% of votes3.3% of seats
  • Malaysian People's Movement Party3.2% of votes2.8% of seats
  • Sarawak United Peoples' Party1.8% of votes2.2% of seats
  • Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak0.4% of votes2.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 12.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 6.0 by votes and 5.1 by seats; United Malays National Organisation led Democratic Action Party by 13.2 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of