Malaysia Sees A Hung Parliament, Dr Mahathir Suffers First Election Defeat In 53 Years

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- The 15th General Election (GE15) in Malaysia witnessed a hung parliament and some shocking results with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad suffering his first election defeat in 53 years on Saturday. In the official results announced by the Election Commission early Sunday, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) have become the biggest blocs in the 222-seat legislative assembly (Dewan Rakyat) with 82 and 73 seats respectively. However, none have the numbers needed for even a simple majority. Barisan Nasional (BN) that had ruled since independence witnessed its fortunes flagging further winning only 30 seats. In the coming days both PH and PN are expected to try working out a coalition with political blocks in East Malaysia, namely GPS and GRS. The return of the PN-BN-GPS combination seen before the election cannot be ruled out. Also, 97-year-old Dr Mahathir, who is the oldest candidate in the polls, failed to retain his parliamentary seat in the Langkawi island constituency, coming in fourth in a five-cornered fight. This is Dr Mahathir’s first defeat in 53 years, who was twice the country’s prime minister. The last time he lost an election was in 1969 election, when he lost the Kota Setar Selatan seat to Islamist party (PAS) stalwart Yusof Rawa. Meanwhile, caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob from BN retained the Bera parliamentary seat for the fifth term. Meanwhile, Muhyiddin who heads PN coalition which also comprises Islamist party PAS retained his Pagoh parliamentary seat, while PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim also won his Tambun parliamentary seat. -- BERNAMA