Editing Barisan Nasional (section)

=== 1977–2007 ===
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In 1977, PAS was expelled from Barisan Nasional following a revolt by PAS within the [[Kelantan State Legislative Assembly|Kelantan state legislature]] against the chief minister appointed by the federal government.<ref name="LiowLeifer2014"/> Barisan Nasional nevertheless won the [[Malaysian general election, 1978|1978 general election]] convincingly, and it continued to dominate Malaysian politics in the 1980s and 1990s despite some losses in state elections, such as the loss of [[Kelantan]] to PAS, and [[Sabah State Legislative Assembly|Sabah]] to [[United Sabah Party]] which later joined Barisan Nasional.

By 2003, Barisan Nasional had grown to a coalition formed of more than a dozen communal parties. It performed particularly well in the [[Malaysian general election, 2004|2004 general election]], winning 198 out of 219 seats.

Although Barisan Nasional never achieved more than 67% of the popular vote in elections from 1974 to 2008, it maintained the consecutive two-thirds majority of seats in this period in the [[Dewan Rakyat]] until the 2008 election, benefitting from Malaysia's [[first-past-the-post]] [[voting system]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303544604576431443001815406|title=Running Scared in Malaysia|author=John R. Malott|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=8 July 2011|access-date=8 July 2011}} {{subscription required}}</ref>