Malaysian polls: Slim lead for PM Najib
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s long-ruling coalition took a slight lead in early vote counting from Wednesday’s election, a cliffhanger contest against a resurgent opposition alliance led by 92-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad.
Three hours after polling stations closed, Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) had won 15 of parliament’s 222 seats and the opposition Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) had 12, according to unofficial results reported by state news agency Bernama.
BN faced a far greater challenge in this election than ever before amid public anger over the cost of living and a multi-billion-dollar scandal that has dogged Najib since 2015.
An election-eve opinion poll suggested that support for BN was slipping and Mahathir’s alliance would land the most votes in peninsular Malaysia, home to 80% of the population in this Southeast Asian nation.
However, under Malaysia’s electoral system, the party or alliance with the majority of parliament seats wins, and going into the poll most experts believed that was within the prime minister’s reach.
The opposition claimed the contest would be skewed by a revision of electoral boundaries and a decision to hold the poll midweek, which it said would discourage millions from voting. The Election Commission and government dismissed the charges.
The commission said that 69% of the 15 million registered voters had cast their vote two hours before polls closed. REUTERS
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