Malaysia: Hung Parliament in GE15, as both Pakatan and Perikatan in race to form govt
Kuala Lumpur, The Gulf Observer: Malaysia wakes up today to a hung Parliament even after the 15th general election (GE15) that saw encouraging voter turnout, with both Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) claiming to possess the numbers to form a federal government.
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.
Telling a press conference early this morning at 3am, PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he has already received a letter from Istana Negara informing him of the prerequisites that need to be fulfilled to form the next federal government.
“We will welcome any party who subscribes to our principles,” he said, when asked about the possibility of an alliance to take over Putrajaya, but clarified that PN will never welcome either BN or PH.However, just half an hour later, PH held a press conference where chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cryptically declared that the pact is ready to form the federal government and had already crossed the 112 simple majority line — without revealing his exact numbers, or from where.“What I am submitting to you is facts, not rumours.
The rumours are with Muhyiddin,” Anwar said.It faced a humbling loss that saw it win just 82 seats, down from the 91 it held prior to the Parliament’s dissolution — and a far cry from the 121 it won with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia as its component in the historic 14th general election.
Amid all this, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was left in a lurch, as evident in the PN crowd which shouted ‘tolak Zahid’, or reject Zahid.His gamble to force Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to call for a snap election seemed to have fallen flat, as BN only managed to turn itself into a junior partner of the governing coalition rather than its skipper.
