The 2010 Hulu Selangor by-election in Malaysia: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) for the first time failed to secure its two thirds majority in Malaysia’s 2008 general elections and lost few states to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition parties. This indicated that, the opposition parties successfully posed credible challenges towards the authoritarian regime. In 2010, the ruling Barisan Nasional was tested once again, when Hulu Selangor by-election was held. By using the qualitative content analysis as the research methodology and the framework for analysis, this study examined the factors that affected the performance of opposition Pakatan Rakyat in the 2010 Hulu Selangor by-election. The significant of using this particular method is that, it contributes towards the understanding of the dynamic competitive election within the context of Hulu Selangor by-election. İt could be argued that, the ruling Barisan Nasional managed to bypass the opposition Pakatan Rakyat by utilizing its strategy of political development. Beside that, the proposed methodology of qualitative method of analysis also revealed a number of factors such as: the candidates, electoral issues, and campaign strategies.