At stake in this election:

• 222 seats in the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King Tuanku ABDUL HALIM Mu'adzam Shah
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Najib RAZAK
• Assembly: Malaysia has a bicameral Parliament (Parlimen) consisting of the Senate (Dewan Negara) with 70 seats and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) with 222 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The King is elected by hereditary state rulers.
• Prime Minister is designated by parliament.
• In the Senate (Dewan Negara), 44 members are appointed by the monarch to serve 3-year terms and 26 members are elected by the state legislatures to serve 3-year terms*. In the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) 222 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve 5-year terms.

* 44 seats appointed by paramount ruler, 26 elected by 13 state legislatures

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Coalition: National Front/ Barisan Nasional (BN)*
  • Leader: Najib RAZAK
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 133
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 137
• Coalition: People’s Alliance/ Pakatan Rakyat (PR)**
  • Leader: Anwar IBRAHIM
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 89
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 76
• Independent(s): Independents/Others
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 0
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 9

* United Malays National Organization (UMNO) leads the BN Coalition. Other members of the coalition include the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), United Traditional Bumiputera Party (PBB), Sarawak People's Party (PRS), Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), United Sabah Party (PBS), People's Progressive Party (PPP), United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO), Malaysian People's Movement Party (Gerakan), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and United Sabah People's Party (PBRS).
** People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) and Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) are the four parties in the PR Coalition. Coalition leader Anwar IBRAHIM is also the de facto leader of the PKR.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 29,465,372 (2013)
• Registered Voters: 13,268,002 (April 2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 14,247,069 (2013)

·         Is Malaysia a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Malaysia ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (5 July 1995)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 23 (House of Representatives) (following the 2013 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 62 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Malaysia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (8 April 2008)

·         Has Malaysia ratified CRPD: Yes (19 July 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 4,419,8052 (est.)