Mahathir claims poll win but results so far don’t back him

Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian prime minister and opposition candidate for Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) attends a news conference after general election, in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 9 May - REUTERS 

Kuala Lumpur (Reuters) - Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad said the opposition alliance he leads had won enough Parliament seats in yesterday’s (9 May) general election to form the next government, but the count was continuing and official results so far did not back his claim.

The Election Commission said that some results that had gone “viral” were unofficial and had not been verified.

“Of course, political parties can declare whoever (they believe has won), but ... please wait,” commission chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah told reporters shortly after midnight. “We would like to announce it as quickly as possible as well.”

Official results showed that, so far, Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) had won 52 of parliament’s 222 seats and Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN), had won 42. A simple majority of 112 seats is required by a party or alliance to rule, a number 92-year-old Mahathir said his Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) believed it had won.

“We believe that from our official counting that they’re left far behind. The likelihood is that they will not be forming the government,” Mahathir told reporters, referring to the prime minister’s coalition.

There was no immediate comment from the ruling coalition. Early results showed that BN had lost seats in key states that have traditionally been its strongholds, raising the prospect that it could be voted out of power for the first time in the country’s six decades of independence from Britain.

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 had 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 had 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.