This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 28, 2022 - December 4, 2022

A total of RM3.74 million in lost deposits was collected from parliamentary candidates who failed to make the cut in the 15th general election (GE15). This amount was more than double the RM1.61 million in GE14.

The higher collection this time around was mainly due to the record number of candidates (945), which includes a record number of independent candidates (108).

In all, 374 candidates lost their deposits in GE15, against 161 in GE14, according to data provided by the Election Commission (EC). GE14 saw a total of 687 candidates.

Given the bloated candidate list, the percentage of those who failed to clinch at least one-eighth of the total votes in the constituency increased to 39.6% from 23.54% in GE14.

Candidates are required to pay a deposit of RM10,000 each when contesting a parliamentary seat. The candidates get their deposit back if they receive a minimum of 12.5%, or one-eighth, of the total votes cast in the constituency.

Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA), which contested under the Parti Pejuang Tanah Air flag, suffered the heaviest loss as it experienced a total wipeout in its maiden appearance. None of the 124 candidates it fielded got back their deposits.

Of the 124 candidates, most of them were from Pejuang (83). The rest were from Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia, or Putra (30); Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia, or Berjasa (7); and Parti Perikatan India Muslim Nasional, or Iman (4).

Whether the 125th GTA candidate, Hamzah Abd Rahman — who is contesting the final and 222nd parliamentary seat of Padang Serai on Dec 7, along with five other candidates — can buck the trend and retain his deposit remains to be seen. But the smart money says otherwise.

Founded by two-time former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Pejuang was formed in August 2020 after he was expelled from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in May that year.

Arguably the only heavyweight in Pejuang and GTA, Mahathir himself was crushed this time around as he obtained only 4,566 votes from a total of 13,518 in his attempt to defend the Langkawi seat.

To add insult to injury, the Langkawi seat was won by his former party Bersatu as the appeal of the nonagenarian continued to fade. And to rub salt into the drubbing at the polls, GTA’s RM1.24 million loss of deposits is likely the single highest loss by a coalition in Malaysia’s election history.

On the whole, independent candidates made up the second-largest group of those who lost their deposits as they incurred a total loss of RM1 million. Only seven of the 108 independent candidates, or 6.5%, got their deposits back. Depending on how independent candidate Ananda A K — who is contesting the Padang Serai seat — performs on Dec 7, the list could run to eight.

Tellingly, these independent candidates contested seats in Sabah and Sarawak. In Sabah, Riduan Rubin (Tenom) and Datuk Verdon Bahanda (Kudat) proved to be outliers when they clinched their seats in five-cornered fights. The other five independent candidates, who lost the fight but not their deposits, contested in Sarawak.

In GE14, four out of 24 independent candidates (16.7%) got back their deposits.

Another coalition that experienced an increase in the loss of election deposits is Warisan. Led by former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, the party lost a total of RM310,000 in deposits. It did not lose any deposits in GE14.

Warisan had fielded significantly more candidates in GE15 as it contested 53 parliamentary seats nationwide, compared with 17 in GE14. The party was an ally of Pakatan Harapan and did not field any candidates in the peninsula during GE14. According to the statistics, Warisan lost all of its deposits for the peninsula seats it contested in GE15 and for six seats in Borneo.

As for Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), it continued its streak of losing all of its deposits in GE15. It contested 16 seats in GE15 and six in GE14.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) performed the best among all the coalitions in GE15 as it avoided losing its deposits in all 31 seats it contested, winning an impressive 23.

Political parties that are entitled to get their deposits back are Umno, under Barisan Nasional (BN); DAP, under Pakatan Harapan (PH); and PAS, under Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Umno and DAP continued to put in a consistent performance as they did not lose any deposits in GE14 as well.

PAS’ performance is a major improvement as the Islamist party lost its deposits for 56 of the 157 seats it contested under Gagasan Sejahtera in GE14, when it aimed to act as a “third force” after BN and PH.

PAS has become the political party with the largest number of seats in parliament with 44 post-GE15. In what is being dubbed the “green wave”, it made a clean sweep of the parliamentary seats in Kelantan and Terengganu, displacing Umno in what was previously considered its stronghold seats.

Bersatu, a partner of PAS in the PN coalition, also fared better this time around as it lost its deposit at only five of the seats it contested in GE15 from 10 in GE14. Overall, PN had a total deposit loss of RM130,000, including those lost by eight Gerakan candidates.

PH — including Muda, which had made an electoral pact with the coalition — saw a whopping deposit loss of RM440,000. Of that amount, Parti Amanah Negara lost a total of RM220,000, PKR RM210,000 and Muda RM10,000.

BN lost RM250,000, largely due to the 20 MCA candidates it fielded.

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