Malaysian election facts and figures - AP

Facts and figures on Malaysia's general elections Saturday.

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CONTESTANTS: Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's National Front coalition is facing three opposition groups—the People's Justice Party, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and Democratic Action Party—and various independent candidates.

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WHAT'S AT STAKE: 222 seats in Parliament and 505 state legislature seats. The National Front has already won eight parliamentary seats and three state seats uncontested, while the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party won one state seat.

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SYSTEM: About 11 million people in this country of 27 million are registered voters. Voting is not mandatory.

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RESULTS: Parliamentary seats are key because the party or coalition that has a majority forms the federal government for the next five years. The prime minister is by tradition the head of the winning side. The National Front has won every general election since independence from Britain in 1957. It also controls all the state legislatures except in northeastern Kelantan state, which has been ruled by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party since 1990.


[From http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_8495831]