Next Kedah state election

Next Kedah state election
← 2023 On or before 24 November 2028
← outgoing members elected members →
All 36 seats in the Legislative Assembly; 19 seats needed for a majority
Incumbent Menteri Besar; Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor; PN-PAS	; ;

The next Kedah state election, will elect members of the 16th Kedah State Legislative Assembly. It must be held on or before 25 November 2028, pursuant to clause 53(3) of the Constitution of Kedah or unless dissolved earlier by the Sultan of Kedah on the advice of the Menteri Besar of Kedah.

All 36 seats in the Kedah State Legislative Assembly will be contested. The election will determine whether the incumbent Perikatan Nasional government under Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor retains power, or whether opposition coalitions such as Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan can secure a majority.

Constituencies

Composition before dissolution

Government				Opposition
PN			IND	PH
33			2	3

21	11	1	2	1
PAS	BERSATU	GERAKAN	IND	PKR	DAP

Background

Previous election

The previous state election was held on 12 August 2023 following the dissolution of the 15th State Legislative Assembly. Perikatan Nasional won a two-thirds supermajority, securing 33 of 36 seats.

Electoral system

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/Premier 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 currently consists of 36 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 Premier. 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 Sarawak, generally persist between elections, and member parties do not normally contest for the same seats.

The voting age is currently 18.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Elections are conducted by the Election Commission of Malaysia, which is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Department. Malaysia practices automatic voter registration but does not practice compulsory voting.

Preparations

Political parties

Perikatan Nasional is expected to defend its governing mandate, while Barisan Nasional aims to regain influence after losing control in 2018. Pakatan Harapan may also expand its challenge in Malay-majority constituencies.

Seat negotiations among opposition parties are expected to play a major role in determining electoral competitiveness.

Departing incumbents

The following members of the 15th Kedah State Legislative Assembly did not seek re-election.

No.	State Constituency	Departing MLA	Coalition (Party)	Date confirmed	First elected	Reason

Candidates

Candidate announcements are expected closer to nomination day.

No.	Parliamentary constituency	No.	State Constituency	Incumbent Member	Incumbent Coalition (Party)	Political coalitions and respective candidates and coalitions
						Perikatan Nasional (PN)		Pakatan Harapan (PH)		Barisan Nasional (BN)		Others
						Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party
P004	Langkawi	N01	Ayer Hangat	Shamsilah Siru	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		AMANAH		UMNO
P004	Langkawi	N02	Kuah	Amar Pared Mahamud	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		PKR		UMNO
P005	Jerlun	N03	Kota Siputeh	Mohd Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		AMANAH		UMNO
P005	Jerlun	N04	Ayer Hitam	Azhar Ibrahim	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		UMNO
P006	Kubang Pasu	N05	Bukit Kayu Hitam	Halimaton Shaadiah Saad	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		PKR		UMNO
P006	Kubang Pasu	N06	Jitra	Haim Hilman Abdullah	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		UMNO
P07	Padang Terap	N07	Kuala Nerang	Mohamad Yusoff @ Munir Zakaria	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
P07	Padang Terap	N08	Pedu	Mohd Radzi Md Amin	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		UMNO
P008	Pokok Sena	N09	Bukit Lada	Salim Mahmood	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
		N10	Bukit Pinang	Wan Romani Wan Salim	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		UMNO
		N11	Derga	Muhamad Amri Wahab	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		DAP		UMNO
P009	Alor Setar	N12	Suka Menanti	Dzowahir Ab Ghani	IND		BERSATU		PKR		UMNO
		N13	Kota Darul Aman	Teh Swee Leong	PH (DAP)		GERAKAN		DAP		MCA
		N14	Alor Mengkudu	Muhamad Radhi Mat Din	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
P010	Kuala Kedah	N15	Anak Bukit	Rashidi Razak	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		UMNO
		N16	Kubang Rotan	Mohd Salleh Saidin	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		AMANAH		UMNO
		N17	Pengkalan Kundor	Mardhiyyah Johari	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
P011	Pendang	N18	Tokai	Mohd Hayati Othman	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
P011	Pendang	N19	Sungai Tiang	Abdul Razak Khamis	IND		BERSATU		PKR		UMNO
P012	Jerai	N20	Sungai Limau	Mohd Azam Abd Samat	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
		N21	Guar Chempedak	Abdul Ghafar Saad	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		PKR		UMNO
		N22	Gurun	Baddrol Bakhtiar	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		MCA
P013	Sik	N23	Belantek	Ahmad Sulaiman	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
P013	Sik	N24	Jeneri	Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		UMNO
P014	Merbok	N25	Bukit Selambau	Azizan Hamzah	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		MIC
P014	Merbok	N26	Tanjong Dawai	Hanif Ghazali	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
P015	Sungai Petani	N27	Pantai Merdeka	Shahrir Long	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
		N28	Bakar Arang	Adam Loh Wei Chai	PH (PKR)		GERAKAN		PKR		MCA
		N29	Sidam	Bau Wong Bau Ek	PH (PKR)		BERSATU		PKR		UMNO
P016	Baling	N30	Bayu	Mohd Taufik Yaacob	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		AMANAH		UMNO
		N31	Kupang	Najmi Ahmad	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
		N32	Kuala Ketil	Mansor Zakaria	PN (PAS)		PAS		PKR		UMNO
P017	Padang Serai	N33	Merbau Pulas	Siti Ashah Ghazali	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO
P017	Padang Serai	N34	Lunas	Khairul Anuar Ramli	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		PKR		MIC
P018	Kulim-Bandar Baharu	N35	Kulim	Wong Chia Zhen	PN (GERAKAN)		GERAKAN		PKR		MCA
P018	Kulim-Bandar Baharu	N36	Bandar Baharu	Mohd Suffian Yusoff	PN (PAS)		PAS		AMANAH		UMNO

Opinion polls

Opinion polling has yet to intensify significantly ahead of the election.

Notes

References

↑ Nandini Balakrishnan (28 September 2016). "Here's The Fastest Way To Register As A Voter Before The Next Elections". Says.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018. Qualifications needed to register as a voter in Malaysia:
a) A Malaysian citizen above the age of 21.
b) A resident of an election constituency.
c) Is not disqualified by any laws.
↑ "A Young Malaysian's Guide to the Election". Juice. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018. You are not eligible to register if you are:
a) on the qualifying date, you are serving jail term or detained as a person of unsound mind.
b) before the qualifying date, you have been convicted or sentenced to death or serving a jail term of more than 12 months and you're still liable on the qualifying date.
c) found guilty under the Election Offences Act, 1954.
d) have a foreign citizenship (Malaysian citizenship law does not permit a Malaysian to carry dual citizenship).
↑ "Federal Gazette: Undi18, automatic voter registration to come into effect Dec 15 before Sarawak polls". Borneo Post Online. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
↑ "Undi18 to come into force Dec 15, but might still be too late for S'wak". Malaysiakini. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.

[1] Nandini Balakrishnan (28 September 2016). "Here's The Fastest Way To Register As A Voter Before The Next Elections". Says.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018. Qualifications needed to register as a voter in Malaysia:
a) A Malaysian citizen above the age of 21.
b) A resident of an election constituency.
c) Is not disqualified by any laws.

[2] "A Young Malaysian's Guide to the Election". Juice. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018. You are not eligible to register if you are:
a) on the qualifying date, you are serving jail term or detained as a person of unsound mind.
b) before the qualifying date, you have been convicted or sentenced to death or serving a jail term of more than 12 months and you're still liable on the qualifying date.
c) found guilty under the Election Offences Act, 1954.
d) have a foreign citizenship (Malaysian citizenship law does not permit a Malaysian to carry dual citizenship).

[3] "Federal Gazette: Undi18, automatic voter registration to come into effect Dec 15 before Sarawak polls". Borneo Post Online. Retrieved 2021-12-01.

[4] "Undi18 to come into force Dec 15, but might still be too late for S'wak". Malaysiakini. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.

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