Mahathir KO and Hanging Parliament in Malaysian elections, what happened?

Jakarta, CNNI Indonesia —

Former Prime Minister (PM) Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad lost badly in the Malaysian general election (Pemilu) until political leaders maneuvered to form a coalition government on Sunday (20/11).

This came after a general election (Pemilu) resulted in an unprecedentedly hung parliament with no group able to claim a majority.

Longtime opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and former Prime Minister (PM) Muhyiddin Yassin have each said they can form a government with the other party’s backing, as quoted by Reuters.

Muhyiddin hopes to conclude the talks by Sunday afternoon, although negotiations could take days.

Previous state

Anwar’s multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition won 82 seats in the lower house. Despite missing 112 seats for a majority, Anwar remains above the alliance’s Perikatan Nasional Muhyiddin with 73 seats and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Barisan Nasional with 30 seats.

The Muhyiddin Alliance, which includes an Islamist party promoting Islamic sharia law for the Southeast Asian nation, emerged as a third major bloc, splitting more votes than expected.

[Gambas:Video CNN]

They raided the Barisan camp, Malaysia’s long-time dominant political force of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which was showing its worst form.

What will happen next?

According to analysts, the government is likely to revert to being a coalition of the Muhyiddin bloc, Barisan and other groups. However, minority rule is possible if neither Anwar nor Muhyiddin can unite their majority.

Muhyiddin, who said he was open to working with any party except Anwar, said he would discuss partnerships with regional parties in the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Anwar did not say who he would be working with. In an interview with Reuters this month, he ruled out working with the Muhyiddin and Ismail coalition, citing key differences.

The coalition of Muhyiddin and Ismail prioritizes the interests of the ethnic Malay majority, while Anwar is multicultural. Race and religion are divisive issues in Malaysia, where the majority are Malay Muslims, with Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities.

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