Malaysia's BN wins majority with 21 seats in Melaka polls
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Umno won 21 of the 28 seats in the Melaka state polls on Saturday (Nov 20).
Rival pact Pakatan Harapan (PH) won five seats, according to the Election Commission, and Perikatan Nasional (PN) took two seats.
At least 15 seats are needed to form the next state government in Melaka, the second-smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis.
The 21 seats won means that BN has secured more than a two-thirds majority.
The PH coalition, which is an opposition bloc at the federal level, conceded defeat.
“We would like to state that the people of Melaka have made their decisions through the ballot box,” PH secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution told a news conference, as quoted by The Star daily. “And based on that, it shows that they wanted Barisan to form a government, and Pakatan needs to respect the results,” he added.
Present at the news conference were the leaders of PH ally parties – Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu and the Democratic Action Party national organising secretary Anthony Loke.
The state election is closely watched, as Melaka has a racial composition and urban-rural split similar to the national averages, potentially making Saturday’s polls a bellwether for the next general election.
The general election is not due until 2023 but is expected to take place in the latter half of next year.
PH won power in Melaka for the first time in 2018, mirroring its unexpected victory at the federal level. But the PH state government collapsed due to defections early last year, just as its federal counterpart was ousted for similar reasons.
Another round of defections last month saw the BN-led state government, which replaced the PH one, also lose its majority, leading to the dissolution of the legislative assembly.
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