Barisan Nasional (National Front or BN) is a major political coalition in Malaysia. Formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance (Parti Perikatan), it has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted (including the term of the Alliance) since independence. The coalition's headquarters is located in the nation's capital, Kuala Lumpur. The coalition holds several seats in every state in Malaysia, but was delivered a severe political blow in the aftermath of the 2008 General Elections when it formed the majority in 8 out of 13 States, with the exceptions being Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor, all of which fell to a loose alliance of opposition parties.

The vast majority of Barisan Nasional's seats are held by its three largest race-based parties — the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) — each of which is sectarian in nature, though officially supporting racial harmony.

United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
The United Malays National Organisation, or UMNO, (Malay: Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu), is a right-wing party and Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has ruled the country uninterruptedly since its independence. It is known for being a major proponent of Malay Supremacy or Ketuanan Melayu and more moderate Islamism than the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (see below), which holds that the Malays and other Muslims are the "definitive" people of Malaysia and, thus, deserve special privileges as their birthright.

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
MCA is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnic, is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Malay, or National Front in English.

Along with the largest and third largest component party in BN, i.e. United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), MCA has a strong influence over the political arena in Malaysia. Through its substantial holding of companies such as Huaren Holdings, MCA also controls five other significant media press companies, i.e. The Star, being Malaysia's best-selling English language newspaper; Sin Chew Jit Pao, Nanyang Siang Pau, and China Press, being three of the best-selling Chinese newspapers in Kuala Lumpur and Central Region of West Malaysia; and Guang Ming Daily being a smaller press in northern West Malaysia.

Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC or Kongres India Se-Malaysia) is a Malaysian political party and is one of the founding members of the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, previously known as the Alliance, that has been in power since the country achieved independence in 1957.

The MIC was established in August 1946, at the end of World War II, to fight along for Indian independence from British colonial. After India obtained its independence, MIC involved itself in the struggle for Malaysian independence, that was achieved in 1957. It positioned itself for representation on behalf of the Indian community in the post-war development of the country. The MIC joined the National Alliance comprising the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in 1954 which became the Barisan Nasional in 1973 with further expansion in the number of component parties. The current head of the MIC is President Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu.

Like the many race based political parties in multi-racial Malaysia, membership in MIC is limited to ethnic Indians, the majority being Tamils descended from Indian migrants.

The People's Alliance is the English name of several political parties in various nations.

On April 1st, 2008, the leaders of Malaysian opposition parties PKR, DAP and PAS have announced the new official alliance of Pakatan Rakyat. Pakatan Rakyat is to be led collectively by the three parties, would uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians. The state governments of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor will also be known as Pakatan Rakyat state governments. Together the three parties also won 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats at stake during the 2008 12th general elections.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)
The People's Justice Party (Malay: Parti Keadilan Rakyat, often known simply as Keadilan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. Keadilan was led by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and increased its parliamentary representation from 1 seat to 31 seats in the Malaysian general election, 2008 until the five-year political ban imposed on former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was lifted on April 14, 2008.

Keadilan promotes an agenda with a strong social justice and anti-corruption emphasis. Recently the party adopted a platform that seeks to abolish the New Economic Policy and replace it with a policy that emphasises on a non-ethnic approach in poverty eradication and correcting economic imbalances.

Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS)
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party or the Islamic Party of Malaysia (Malay: Parti Islam Se-Malaysia), commonly known as PAS or Pas, is an Islamist political party in Malaysia and is currently headed by Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang. PAS positions itself as a political party that aims to establish Malaysia as a country based on Islamic legal theory derived from the primary sources of Islam, the Quran, Sunnah as well as Hadiths, as opposed to Barisan Nasional's Islam Hadhari, which PAS sees as based on a watered-down understanding of Islam.

The party enjoys strong support from the northern rural and conservative areas such as Kelantan and Terengganu. It is also the first opposition party in independent Malaysia's history to defeat the Barisan Nasional coalition in a Malay dominated state. PAS, together with Parti KeADILan Rakyat (known as PKR), and Democratic Action Party (known as DAP) formed part of a coalition called Pakatan Rakyat following the 2008 election. Together, Pakatan Rakyat now controls five states in Malaysia which is Kelantan, Kedah, Selangor, Perak and Penang

Democratic Action Party (DAP)
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic/democratic socialist Malaysian political party. Though its core constituency consists of urban non-Muslim voters, especially the Malaysian Chinese, it also receives support from the Malays and Malaysian Indians. The party's strongholds are in the states of Penang, Perak and Federal Territory.

The DAP gained prominence for its advocacy of the "Malaysian Malaysia" concept. It is one of three major parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties. It is one of the component parties of Pakatan Rakyat (or known as People's Alliance).