To follow Malaysian politics you have to understand coalitions. Because seats are won under first-past-the-post and no single party has been able to govern alone in recent years, parties group into alliances that contest elections together and share power afterwards. The names change over time and parties do switch sides, so treat any snapshot — including this one — as a starting point rather than a permanent map.
Why coalitions dominate
First-past-the-post rewards the largest bloc in each seat, which pushes parties to combine forces rather than split the vote. Malaysia's diversity of parties — organised around ethnicity, religion, region and ideology — means the realistic path to a majority is almost always a pre-election alliance. The result is that voters usually choose between coalitions as much as between individual parties.
The main peninsular coalitions
Three coalitions have dominated peninsular politics in the recent era:
- Barisan Nasional (BN) — the long-governing alliance historically led by UMNO, alongside partners such as MCA and MIC. It governed Malaysia for decades until 2018.
- Pakatan Harapan (PH) — a reformist coalition whose main components include PKR, the DAP and AMANAH. It first won federal power in 2018.
- Perikatan Nasional (PN) — a bloc built around Bersatu and the Islamist party PAS, which emerged as a major force from 2020 onward.
The Borneo blocs
Sabah and Sarawak, the two states on the island of Borneo, have their own powerful state-based coalitions that often hold the balance of power federally. Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) governs Sarawak, and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) has been a leading force in Sabah. Because these blocs control a large number of seats and tend to negotiate as a group, they are frequently decisive in deciding who forms the federal government.
Coalitions of coalitions
After the 2022 general election produced no outright winner, the parties formed what is commonly called a 'unity government' — a coalition of coalitions bringing together former rivals to reach a majority. Arrangements like this show how fluid Malaysian alliances can be: blocs that campaign against each other can end up governing together, and individual parties sometimes leave one alliance for another between elections.