Malaysia faces new crisis as poll delivers hung Parliament

Malaysia tumbled into fresh political turmoil Sunday after a tightly contested general election delivered a hung Parliament with no clear winner and a surprising surge of support for an Islamist party.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s reformist alliance secured the biggest gain with 82 out of 220 Parliamentary seats, but fell far short of a majority. Trailing close behind was former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Malay-based Perikatan Nasional, or National Alliance with 73 seats.
The alliance led by the United Malays National Organization, which ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain until 2018, fared worse than in the last polls with upsets in a number of seats in a clear sign of rejection from Malays, who opted for Muhyiddin’s bloc. It won only 30 seats.