KUALA LUMPUR: Thirteen editions of general election has come and gone and the 14th edition of the exercise in the electoral franchise is yet again upon Malaysians.
The general election had been held in odd numbered years on five occasions. This includes the Federal Legislative Council elections in 1955 as well as the general elections in 1959, 1969, 1995 and 1999.
It was held for eight times on even numbered years and these were in 1964, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2004 and 2008. This year will be the ninth such occasion that polls would be held in an even numbered year.
Call it coincidence or not but the election years in Malaysia one way or the other have always been associated with major regional and global sporting events.
The regional SEA Games had been held on odd numbered election years on four occasions. The 1959 edition was held in Bangkok, Thailand followed by Rangoon (Yangon); Myanmar in 1969; the Chiang Mai Sea Games in 1995 and Bandar Seri Begawan Sea Games in 1999.
However, even numbered election years have seen more major global sporting events.
The Summer Olympic itself was staged no less than on three election years. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics; 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Other multi-sport events which have taken place on election years are the Asian games which was held in 1974 (Tehran Asian Games); 1978 ( Bangkok Asian Games); 1982 (New Delhi Asian Games); 1986 (Seoul Asian Games); and 1990 (Beijing Asian Games).
The Commonwealth Games were held in 1974 (Christchurch, New Zealand); 1978 (Edmonton, Canada); 1982 (Brisbane, Australia); 1986 (Edinburgh, Scotland); 1990 (Auckland, New Zealand) and this year (Gold Coast, Australia).
The FIFA World Cup and European Nations Cup Football were also major sporting tournaments held during the election years.
The European Nations Cup coincided with general elections on three occasions in 1964 (Spain); 2004 (Portugal) and 2008 (Austria/Switzerland).
The biggest football competition – the Fifa World Cup had taken place on five past occasions when general elections were held in Malaysia. This year will be the sixth.
It happened in 1974 when then West Germany won the coveted trophy, followed by Argentina in 1978, the Azurris (Italy) in 1982 and Argentina for the second time in 1986 and West Germany winning it for the third time in 1990.
This year will mark yet another time when the World Cup to be held in Russia coincided with the national polls. Only two occasions did the general election fall in the year when the Winter Olympics, in 1964 when it was held in Innsbruck, Austraia and this year when it was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
By the way, the general elections had only been held in leap year on three occasions – 1964, 2004 and the last edition in 2008.
These three occasions were also the only time the Malaysian election had coincided with the United States Presidential Election.
The 1964 US presidential election saw incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson defeat Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee. The 2004 election saw incumbent Republican President George W. Bush defeat Democratic nominee John Kerry, and the 2008 saw Democrat nominee Barack Obama defeat his Republican rival John McCain.