Malaysian Prime Minister Razak’s National Front Coalition Wins Majority of Parliamentary Seats

The Election Commission of Malaysia has formally announced that the National Front Coalition has garnered 80% of the votes cast by 10 million voters on Sunday’s general election. The Coalition now led by incumbent Prime Minister Najib Razak has been winning consistently since 1957 and has been the ruling party in Malaysia for the past 56 years. Its rule has been unbroken since Malaysia gained its independence from the United Kingdom. This is the Coalition’s 13th consecutive victory.

The turnout of the just concluded general election was very impressive, according to observers who say that Malaysians demonstrated that they are indeed eager for a change. Ten million Malaysians exercised their right of suffrage out of 13 million registered voters. In the days leading to it, this election has been dubbed the most hotly contested in the history of the country.

Another victory

The Coalition managed to secure 127 out of 222 seats in parliament while its closest rival, the Pakatan Rakyat alliance of three-parties got 77 seats. In a brief and straightforward tweet Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the election has been hard fought and the next step that needs to be taken is towards reconciliation. He added in a later message that the just concluded election was transparent and true and hopes for acceptance of results from the opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim.

So far, Anwar Ibrahim’s three-party alliance has presented the gravest and most unified challenge to the National Front Coalition in years. The opposition has accused the governing party of malversation of public funds, racial discrimination, and arrogance.

The opposition

In the meantime, those who failed to win have called upon Malaysian officials to investigate, claiming that the Coalition’s victory is questionable. Anwar Ibrahim said in an interview that they should not be expected to form a decision based on fraudulent election results. He demands a response to the complaints put forward by his party, Pakatan Rakyat and only when this is given will they accept the results. Anwar added that there are irregularities in the election, which cost his party a number of parliamentary seats.

Even before election day, Anwar Ibrahim has been confidently assuring Pakatan Rakyat’s supporters of an upset. The day before the polls opened he encouraged his allies not to take the law into their own hand and remain calm because a win is assured if there is no “major massive fraud tomorrow.” Upon learning of election results, supporters of the opposition expressed their dissatisfaction and protest by changing their Facebook profiles into black boxes.

Election-related complaints

There have been complaints even before the election. People who voted in advance reported that the indelible ink that was used to mark those who have already voted washed off easily. The indelible ink should take days to wear off but evidently the ink used was washable with water. The Pakatan Rakyat coalition has also complained that ballot boxes were left under the care of the police.

There is also a petition at the website of the White House asking for assistance from the United States government. The authors of the petition entitled “Democracy Crisis in Malaysia” are reporting that foreign workers from Bangladesh were brought in to vote in the general election. This petition already has 160,000 signatories.