Next Perlis state election

Next Perlis state election
← 2018 On or before 17 February 2028
← outgoing members elected members →
All 15 seats in the Legislative Assembly; 8 seats needed for a majority
Menteri Besar before election; Abu Bakar Hamzah; BERSATU	Elected Menteri Besar ; TBD;

The next Perlis state election, will elect members of the 16th Perlis State Legislative Assembly. It must be held on or before 17 February 2028, pursuant to clause 55 (4) of the Constitution of Perlis or unless dissolved earlier by the Raja of Perlis on the advice of the Menteri Besar of Perlis.

All 15 seats in the Perlis State Legislative Assembly will be contested. The election will determine whether the incumbent Perikatan Nasional government under Menteri Besar Abu Bakar Hamzah retains power, or whether opposition coalitions such as Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan can secure a majority.

Constituencies

Composition before dissolution

PN		PH	VAC
11		1	3
6	5	1	3
PAS	BERSATU	PKR	VAC

Background

Previous election

The previous state election was held on 19 November 2022 following the dissolution of the 15th State Legislative Assembly. Perikatan Nasional won a two-thirds supermajority, securing 14 of 15 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 15 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 2022. 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 Perlis 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)		Barisan Nasional (BN)		Pakatan Harapan (PH)		Others
						Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party	Candidate name	Party
P001	Padang Besar	N01	Titi Tinggi	Izizam Ibrahim	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		MCA		DAP
		N02	Beseri	Haziq Asyraf Dun	PN (PAS)		PAS		UMNO		AMANAH
		N03	Chuping	Vacant			PAS		UMNO		PKR
		N04	Mata Ayer	Wan Badariah Wan Saad	PN (PAS)		PAS		UMNO		PKR
		N05	Santan	Mohammad Azmir Azizan	PN (PAS)		PAS		UMNO		AMANAH
P002	Kangar	N06	Bintong	Vacant			PAS		UMNO		AMANAH
		N07	Sena	Marzita Mansor	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		UMNO		PKR
		N08	Indera Kayangan	Gan Ay Ling	PH (PKR)		BERSATU		MCA		PKR
		N09	Kuala Perlis	Abu Bakar Hamzah	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		UMNO		PKR
		N10	Kayang	Asrul Aimran Abd Jalil	PN (PAS)		PAS		UMNO		AMANAH
P003	Arau	N11	Pauh	Megat Hashirat Hassan	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		UMNO		PKR
		N12	Tambun Tulang	Wan Zikri Afthar Ishak	PN (BERSATU)		BERSATU		UMNO		PKR
		N13	Guar Sanji	Vacant			PAS		UMNO		PKR
		N14	Simpang Empat	Razali Saad	PN (PAS)		PAS		UMNO		PKR
		N15	Sanglang	Mohd Shukri Ramli	PN (PAS)		PAS		UMNO		AMANAH

Opinion polls

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

Notes

↑ While BERSATU remains in Perikatan Nasional, PAS withdrew from the state executive committee in protest of the ousting of PAS's Mohd Shukri Ramli as Chief Minister by BERSATU in December 2025. PAS supports the BERSATU administration in the Legislative Assembly but outside the committee.

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] While BERSATU remains in Perikatan Nasional, PAS withdrew from the state executive committee in protest of the ousting of PAS's Mohd Shukri Ramli as Chief Minister by BERSATU in December 2025. PAS supports the BERSATU administration in the Legislative Assembly but outside the committee.

[2] 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.

[3] "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).

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

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

[note 1]

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[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e State elections in Malaysia
Overall elections	1983 1985 1986 1987 1990 1991 1994 1995 1996 1999 2001 2004 2006 2008 2011 2013 2016 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2025 2026
Johor	1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022 2026
Kedah	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023 Next
Kelantan	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023 Next
Malacca	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2021 2026
Negeri Sembilan	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023 2026
Pahang	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022 Next
Penang	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023 Next
Perak	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022 Next
Perlis	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022 Next
Sabah	1962 1964 (indirect) 1967 1971 1976 1981 1985 1986 1990 1994 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2020 2025
Sarawak	1959 (indirect) 1963 (indirect) 1969 1974 1979 1983 1987 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026
Selangor	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023 Next
Terengganu	1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2023 Next
Singapore	1963

v t e Elections in Malaysia
Federal	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 2018 2022 Next
State	1954 1955 1959 (Malaya) 1959 (Sarawak) 1963 1964 1967 1969 1971 1974 1976 1978 1979 1981 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1990 1991 1994 1995 1996 1999 2001 2004 2006 2008 2011 2013 2016 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2025 2026
Local	1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
See also: Federal by-elections State by-elections Elections in Johor Kedah Kelantan Kuala Lumpur Labuan Malacca Negeri Sembilan Pahang Penang Perak Perlis Putrajaya Sabah Sarawak Selangor Terengganu