• A hung parliament was the one outcome of the Malaysian general election that almost everyone correctly predicted.
• After the election on Saturday, Malaysia’s parties have not yet put together a coalition to rule.
• For fifty years, Dr. Mahathir has dominated Malaysian politics.

That is because at the most recent election in 2018, when Barisan Nasional and its all-powerful main party UMNO lost power for the first time, the dynamic of a single incumbent ruling coalition being challenged by an alliance of opposition groups, which had defined Malaysian politics since independence in 1957, was broken.

It appeared improbable that any of the three major coalitions that ran in this year’s election—rather than the usual two—would secure a majority in the 222-seat parliament.

Few people expected Barisan Nasional (BN) to fare so poorly, winning only 30 seats, or half as many as it did in 2018.

A series of by-election victories had persuaded the UMNO leadership that they may perform well enough to retake power, therefore they had pushed hard for this election to be held now rather than next year.

The party that ruled Malaysia for more than 60 years was left as, at best, a junior member in a new coalition administration. It was a fatal error in judgement.

Perikatan Nasional (PN), a relatively new coalition made up of UMNO defectors allied with the Islamist party PAS, benefited from UMNO/defeat. BN’s

Thanks to residual public concern over corruption and the status of the economy following Covid, PN appears to have earned the support of ethnic Malays in rural regions, a constituency that often supports UMNO. They also mounted a slick campaign.

After being expelled from UMNO in 2015 for criticising then-Prime Minister Najib Razak over his role in the major financial scandal known as 1MDB, PN leader Muhyiddin Yassin is now regarded as a relatively moral figure. Currently, Mr. Najib is completing a 12-year prison term.

Following the dissolution of the reformist alliance that had beaten UMNO two years earlier, Mr. Muhyiddin was appointed prime minister in 2020.

However, he may have counted himself lucky when he was ousted by the UMNO last year and succeeded by Ismail Yaacob Sabri, who has had to cope with the inflation situation this year.

According to Ibrahim Suffian from the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, “the main underlying reason is the terrible economic conditions and inflation which have affected most Malaysian households, still fighting to pull out from the consequences of the epidemic lockdown.”

“Second, there was concern that the extremely unpopular leader of the BN, Zahid Hamidi, would use the election to seize power, meddle in the legal system with regard to the graft cases he is facing, and dismiss accusations against other BN leaders.

As a result, PN and PAS received a lot of support among Malay Muslim voters since they were perceived as a strong alternative to BN.

But the Islamic party PAS appears to have profited the most, taking home 44 seats, the most of any party.

Hadi Awang, the leader of PAS, is notorious for making incendiary remarks. Most recently, he said that non-Muslims were to blame for Malaysia’s corruption. Many Malaysians worry that he would usher the ultra-conservative policies of his party into the centre of power.

People are concerned that PAS may try to incorporate more Islamic components into public policy with their newfound influence, according to James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania.

Because PAS has made it apparent that it does not believe non-Malays should have political rights, non-Malays are particularly afraid. People are probably concerned that if PAS joins a coalition in power, it will meddle in a number of crucial areas, such as wanting control of the Ministry of Education and attempting to Islamize the curriculum.

However, PN cannot form a government even with the 44 seats won by PAS unless it can persuade UMNO and its BN allies to join it.

Since they have been operating as a tense coalition since 2020, there shouldn’t be many issues. Despite all of its surprise success, PN did not end up winning the most seats.

The group with the most seats was Pakatan Harapan, a reformist coalition led by seasoned politician Anwar Ibrahim that created history by defeating UMNO in the last election but lost control of the country when the ruling coalition disintegrated in 2020.

Theoretically, PH should be in the strongest position to form a government thanks to its 82 MPs, nine more than PN. But there are explanations for why this is challenging.

The Democratic Action Party, which gained 40 seats and receives the majority of its support from the sizable ethnic Chinese population, is the largest component of PH. Reformers who support PH want a truly multicultural nation where no one is given preferential treatment because of their ethnicity.

But in reality, race is a significant factor in Malaysian politics, and organisations like UMNO, PAS, and Mr. Muhyiddin’s Bersatu can win over the country’s ethnic Malay majority by vowing to uphold the unique status and privileges that Malays have enjoyed for the majority of its history.

Despite being a well-liked and charismatic leader, Mr. Anwar suffers from the unsubtle implication that his coalition threatens “ketuanan Melayu,” or Malay supremacy. Some UMNO officials have rejected the idea of working with him.

Additionally, there is animosity between the DAP and a group of 22-seat parties that represent the state of Sarawak in eastern Malaysia, whose support could be crucial in building a new government.

The Malaysian Agong, or king, had to extend the deadline to form a government by 24 hours due to the heated negotiations that have taken place since the election results were announced on Sunday morning.

At the age of 75, Mr. Anwar would be under pressure to make way for younger leaders if he is unable to do so. His epic, 25-year journey to become prime minister, which included nearly nine years in prison, would undoubtedly come to an end then.

Mahathir Mohammad, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, who helped build contemporary Malaysia in many ways, was also a political giant who was defeated in this election.

At the age of 92, he made a stunning comeback in 2018 and, thanks to an odd partnership with Mr. Anwar, defeated his former party UMNO.

However, the dissolution of that coalition in 2020 as a result of Dr. Mahathir’s failure to keep his word to give Mr. Anwar the premiership hurt his reputation.

He insisted on running for parliament again at the age of 97 in a seat that had previously been secure for him, but was humiliated. Both he and the other members of his new party forfeited their deposits.

For fifty years, Dr. Mahathir has dominated Malaysian politics. Malaysians might be able to finally emerge from his shadow now.

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