# 2008 Kedah state election

The 12th Kedah state election was held on 8 March 2008. Polling took place in 36 constituencies throughout the Malaysian state of Kedah, with each electing a State Assemblyman to the Kedah State Legislative Assembly. The election was conducted by the Malaysian Election Commission. The state election was held concurrently with the 2008 Malaysian general election.
In a historic result, the incumbent government from Barisan Nasional (BN) was handed an unprecedented and shocking defeat by the opposition, the first time Kedah's ruling party from BN or is predecessor Alliance Party was voted out of power since the start of the state elections in 1955. The informal coalition of Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) won 21 seats out of the 36 seats, gaining a simple majority in the Kedah State Legislative Assembly.

## Results

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | DAP-PKR-PAS coalition | | Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party | 250,028 | 35.80 | 16 | +11 |
| | DAP-PKR-PAS coalition | | People's Justice Party | 85,223 | 12.20 | 4 | +4 |
| | DAP-PKR-PAS coalition | | Democratic Action Party | 7,510 | 1.08 | 1 | +1 |
| | DAP-PKR-PAS coalition | Total | Total | 342,761 | 49.07 | 21 | +16 |
| | Barisan Nasional | | United Malays National Organisation | 259,940 | 37.21 | 12 | –11 |
| | Barisan Nasional | | Malaysian Chinese Association | 50,050 | 7.17 | 1 | –3 |
| | Barisan Nasional | | Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia | 12,368 | 1.77 | 1 | –1 |
| | Barisan Nasional | | Malaysian Indian Congress | 18,376 | 2.63 | 0 | –2 |
| | Barisan Nasional | Total | Total | 322,358 | 46.15 | 14 | –17 |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 14,990 | 2.15 | 1 | +1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 698,485 | 100.00 | 36 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 698,485 | 97.85 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 15,322 | 2.15 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 713,807 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 873,674 | 81.70 | | |
| Source: The Star ||||||||

## Aftermath

As the party with the most seats in the winning DAP-PAS-PKR coalition, PAS has the priority in choosing the new Menteri Besar. Azizan Abdul Razak, the PAS Kedah Commissioner and MLA for Sungai Limau, was selected by the coalition to be its candidate, and were sworn in on the next day, in front of the Sultan of Kedah. The EXCO members consisting of 7 PAS MLA and 3 PKR MLA, were sworn in on 12 March; the sole MLA from DAP, the other party in the coalition, was excluded.
The sole independent candidate who won the Bukit Selambau seat, V. Arumugam joined PKR days after the election, bringing the PKR MLAs to 5 and total MLA in the DAP-PAS-PKR coalition to 22. But in 2009, Arumugam resigned from his state seat, triggering the 2009 Bukit Selambau by-election; PKR retained the seat by winning the by-election.
The DAP-PKR-PAS coalition were later known as Pakatan Rakyat from 1 April 2008.