| Country: | Malaysia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1986 Malaysian general election |
| Previous Year: | 1986 |
| Previous Mps: | Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 7th Malaysian Parliament |
| Next Election: | 1995 Malaysian general election |
| Next Year: | 1995 |
| Seats For Election: | All 180 seats in the Dewan Rakyat |
| Elected Mps: | Members elected |
| Majority Seats: | 91 |
| Registered: | 7,958,641 |
| Election Date: | 20–21 October 1990 |
| Image1: | Mahathir Mohamad and South Africa (cropped, 3to4).jpg |
| Leader1: | Mahathir Mohamad |
| Color1: | 000080 |
| Alliance1: | Barisan Nasional |
| Last Election1: | 57.28%, 148 seats |
| Seats1: | 127 |
| Seat Change1: | 21 |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,985,392 |
| Percentage1: | 53.38% |
| Swing1: | 3.90pp |
| Leader2: | Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (S46) Fadzil Noor (PAS) |
| Alliance2: | Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah |
| Color2: | FFFF00 |
| Last Election2: | 15.50, 1 seat |
| Seats2: | 15 |
| Seat Change2: | 14 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,218,211 |
| Percentage2: | 21.78% |
| Swing2: | 6.28pp |
| Image3: | Lim Kit Siang (3to4).jpg |
| Leader3: | Joseph Pairin Kitingan (USP) |
| Alliance3: | Gagasan Rakyat |
| Color3: | ADD8E6 |
| Last Election3: | 22.69%, 34 seats |
| Seats3: | 34 |
| Seat Change3: | 4 |
| Popular Vote3: | 1,113,488 |
| Percentage3: | 19.91% |
| Swing3: | 2.78pp |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Prime Minister-designate |
| Before Election: | Mahathir Mohamad |
| Before Party: | Barisan Nasional |
| After Election: | Mahathir Mohamad |
| After Party: | Barisan Nasional |
General elections were held in Malaysia on 20 and 21 October 1990. Voting took place in all 180 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament.[1] State elections also took place in 351 state constituencies in 11 (out of 13, except Sabah and Sarawak) states of Malaysia on the same day.
The result was a victory for the Barisan Nasional (BN) at the federal level and state except state of Kelantan with opposition alliance Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) winning all 39 state assembly seats with 24 seats going to PAS and 15 for Semangat 46.[2]
The elections marked the first after United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party split and the subsequent constitutional crisis in 1988. The reconstituted UMNO Baru (New UMNO), led by incumbent Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and the newly formed Semangat 46 (S46), led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, contested for the first time in the elections.
It also marked the first time in country general election history when a credible, multi-ethnic coalition have been formed the challenge the dominance of Barisan Nasional. This also lead the country political scene from a dominant party system into two party system.[3] The Muslim opposition parties, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Semangat 46, Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (BERJASA) and Parti Hizbul Muslimin Malaysia (HAMIM) teamed up to form the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU). On the other hand, Semangat 46, Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), which withdrew from the Barisan Nasional (BN) at the eleventh hour of the general election, teamed up as Gagasan Rakyat. However, these two opposition alliances cooperated in the election but not openly due to the sensitivity of the secular DAP and the Islamic PAS working together.
At the federal level, the BN coalition under the leadership of incumbent Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad won 127 of the 180 parliament seats to form the federal government.