No political party or coalition presently has been able to obtain a simple majority after they failed to win 50 per cent out of 220 parliamentary seats in the 15th general election (GE15), said Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh in the wee hours of Nov 20.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has claimed that the coalition has gathered enough seats to form the new federal government.
According to Anwar, PH had reached an understanding with several parties to give the coalition more than 112 seats, but he did not reveal its potential partners for forming the government.
“PH has formed the biggest block in the parliamentary position (with Muda), and we have recognised that no party had obtained a simple majority.
“This is the first coalition from the biggest block which has obtained enough seats to form the government on majority voice,” he told a news conference here early this morning.
Anwar also disputed a statement by Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that PN was in a position to form the new government by working with other parties.
“That is not possible because we have the numbers and will notify Istana Negara,” he said.
Asked when documents backing the formation of a PH government would be sent to Istana Negara, Anwar said they would be sent once completed.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said his coalition would hold discussions with parties from Sabah and Sarawak to form the federal government but discounted the idea of working with arch-rival Pakatan Harapan (PH), led by Anwar, to achieve this.
He also claimed that PN has received a letter from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong from Istana Negara setting the conditions for it to form the next government, while refusing to divulge its contents.
When he was pressed to identify PN’s possible partners, hundreds of supporters shouted ‘Tolak (Reject) BN (Barisan Nasional)’ and ‘Tolak (Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi)’, the BN chairman.
“I have made a statement earlier that we are ready, we did not mention that we leave it to the wisdom of the highest leadership of the PN to decide,” he said, addressing the loud crowd.
Asked to clarify if there was a possibility of working with PH, Muhyiddin said no.
Earlier, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) said it will work with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to establish a Borneo bloc and form the federal government with a national coalition that can bring the most benefit to the two states.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PAS won 51 and 22 seats respectively, for a combined total of 73 seats. a hung Parliament ensued even after GE15 saw encouraging voter turnout, with both Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) claiming to possess the numbers to take over the federal administration.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) was initially in the driving seat after winning 73 seats, and was set to form the government with the same coalition that we have seen before: An alliance with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) — and its former ally Barisan Nasional (BN) that turned into a bitter rival during campaigning.
According to the Election Commision website, PH won 82 seats, PN (73), Barisan Nasional (30), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (22), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (6), Warisan (3), Independents (2) and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (1) in the 15th General Election.
Voting in Kota Marudu in Sabah and the Baram Parliamentary seat in Sarawak were postponed on Saturday (Nov 19) due to bad weather, while voters in Padang Serai will cast their ballots on Dec 7, to elect their new representative for the parliamentary seat following the death of Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate M. Karupaiya on Wednesday, due to heart complications while being treated at Kulim Hospital.
This means that the results of only 219 out of the 222 federal seats contested were announced.
Other parties that won seats are Barisan Nasional (BN) with 30 seats, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) (22), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) (six), Warisan (three), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (one) along with two independents.
Voter turnout for parliamentary seats is 73.89 per cent, without taking into consideration the unannounced three seats, Abdul Ghani added.
Malaysians on Saturday (Nov 19) started casting their ballots for the GE15 to give lawmakers a fresh mandate against the backdrop of political turbulence in recent years.
The 15th General Election campaign has officially started on 6 November 2022 after the nomination process took place on 5 November 2022. GE15 made history when it recorded a total of 945 eligible candidates to compete for all 222 parliamentary seats, the highest number in the history of GE in Malaysia . According to the Election Commission (SPR), a total of 441 candidates will compete in 117 seats in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) of Perak, Pahang, Perlis and Bugaya, Sabah (N66).
For the Parliamentary seats, Pakatan Harapan (PH) put up the most candidates with 206 candidates, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN) (178), Perikatan Nasional (PN) (149) and PEJUANG (116). Parti Warisan Sabah (WARISAN) fielded 52 candidates, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (31), PAS (22), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (16), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (13), Parti Sarawak Bersatu (10), Putra (nine), DAP ( eight), Community Democratic Welfare Party (seven), MUDA (six), Malaysian National Party (five) and Sarawak Dayak National Party (three).
Others, Sabah United People’s Party, Sarawak People’s Conscious Party, Malaysian Socialist Party, Sabah People’s Unity Party, Bumi Kenyalang Party and People’s Main Party each have a candidate for a parliamentary seat. A total of 108 Independent candidates contested, making the number of Independent candidates the highest in the country’s GE history. In GE13, 79 contested and GE14 (24) Independent candidates in Parliament seats.
The Supplementary Voter Register for August 2022 which was updated to October 9 will be used for GE15.
The previous election in 2018 saw the end of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) reign after six decades, amid allegations of graft against key members of the ruling coalition. The opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition emerged victorious.
Back then, PH’s component parties included Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), led by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), led by Anwar.
But less than two years into a five-year mandate, the PH government collapsed amid infighting and a political manoeuvre dubbed the “Sheraton Move”, which saw Bersatu’s withdrawal from PH and the defection of several MPs from PKR.
A new Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition – led by Bersatu – was formed, and its leader Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as prime minister on Mar 1, 2020. This change in administration was criticised as a betrayal to the people’s mandate in the 2018 election.
However, the PN government was soon plagued by political bickering. A growing loss of confidence in Muhyiddin’s leadership led to his resignation in August 2021. Muhyiddin’s departure saw the return of BN to power with the appointment of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the third prime minister in the last two years.
Subsequently, pressure from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) top leadership, with a constant narrative that the government was still shaky and in need of a new mandate, finally prompted Ismail Sabri to dissolve parliament.
GE15 saw 945 candidates contesting for the 222 parliament seats in Dewan Rakyat. Over 21.1 million were eligible t cast their votes.
Four main coalitions – BN, PH, PN and the Dr Mahathir-led Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) – contested this year’s election.
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