KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s early general election entered an interesting phase as Mahathir Mohamad suffered his first defeat in 53 years and the ruling party unexpectedly lost traditional seats, but after a tight contest, any political alliance could win a simple majority. Failed to get it means this time too the government will be a coalition.
According to the World News Agency, in the general elections held in Malaysia, the electoral alliance “Paktan Harapan (PH)” under the leadership of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim won 82 out of 222 seats.
On the other hand, Parikatan National (PN), a political alliance of Islamic organizations of the country formed under the leadership of former Prime Minister Muhyiddin, is in second place by securing 73 seats.
On the other hand, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaqoob faced a major upset which managed to win only 30 seats. This is the first time that Barisan Nasional has faced such a defeat since its establishment.
The biggest upset of Malaysia’s general election is the first defeat in 53 years for Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled for 23 years and built the country into an export giant during which he economically stabilized.
Mahathir Mohamad contested the election from a constituency in the resort island of Langkawi where five candidates were in the fray, of which Mahathir Mohamad came fourth. This seat was won by Muhyiddin’s alliance.
According to Malaysia’s Election Commission, voting was halted in a seat in Sarawak in the flood-hit Borneo state. The polling station could not be reached due to standing water in the electoral area.
Thus, Anwar Ibrahim has 82 seats and Muhyiddin has 73 seats and both of them claim that they have the support of other parties and they will easily form a coalition government, however, the details regarding this have not been revealed.
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The ruling party faced an upset in the election results, but their 30 seats will determine the next ruler.
The remaining seats were won by former Prime Minister Najib Razak, local parties and independent candidates who could play a major role in forming the government. 112 seats are needed to form the government.
On the other hand, the King of Malaysia has given political parties until Monday to name the new Prime Minister. The alliance process has started for securing 112 seats and it remains to be seen who will be drawn this time after three Prime Ministers have changed in three years.
It should be remembered that Najib Razak, who was the Prime Minister of Malaysia for two consecutive terms, was defeated and deprived of power by the alliance of Mahathir Mohamad and the then leader of Ser, Anwar Ibrahim.
After losing the election, Najib Razak was arrested on corruption charges and is serving a 12-year prison sentence in the biggest money laundering scandal in Malaysian history.
Political experts say that there is a strong possibility that the political crisis that started after Najib Razak will continue and the coalition government formed as a result of these elections will not last long.
