The country has been hit by a series of political shocks in recent years and now confronts the first hung Parliament in its history.
A prime minister was accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars. The national patriarch coming out of retirement to oust him in a historic election. Infighting within the new government forced the patriarch’s resignation. Two new prime ministers in less than two years.
The political turmoil in Malaysia, the incumbent coalition government promised, would end with elections that were held on Saturday. Sensing an opportunity to strengthen its grip on power, the government had moved up national elections by a year and urged voters to usher in a new era of stability by issuing it a renewed mandate to govern.
As of midday on Sunday, the incumbent coalition, Barisan Nasional, had secured only 30 seats in the 222-seat Parliament, according to Malaysia’s election commission and local news outlets
Pakatan Harapan, a reform-minded multiethnic opposition coalition, was leading with 82 seats. And in a surprise to political pundits, Perikatan Nasional, a far-right nationalist coalition got 73 seats. (A pair of East Malaysian coalitions earned 28 of the 35 remaining seats.)
A coalition needs 112 seats — a simple majority — to form a government. None of them have it on their own. Pakatan Harapan’s leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has said his group has enough support from other coalitions to get there but did not say whom he was teaming up with. Muhyiddin Yassin, a former prime minister in charge of Perikatan Nasional, said his group was ready to welcome any party that was ready to embrace its “principles.”
The coalition leaders must now convince the king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, that they have the best path forward. Malaysia is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy, and the king must formally swear in the next prime minister.
Experts said that a government could form by the end of Sunday. In a statement, the palace told party leaders that they had until Monday afternoon to make clear how they wished to align themselves and whom they preferred as prime minister.
In this election, “the role of the monarch is crucial,” said Aira Azhari, an analyst at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a Malaysian think tank. “Representatives from all these coalitions are going to go to him and say ‘We have the numbers — and he will have to say, ‘OK, prove it.’
If Pakatan Harapan, (whose name means “Alliance of Hope”) is able to form the next government, it would culminate in a comeback for Mr. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who has had two stints in prison that he says was the result of politically motivated prosecutions.