Malaysia’s Melaka state election gave Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) 24 of 28 assembly seats Saturday, a two-thirds majority that sets the balance of power in the state legislature.
The Election Commission of Malaysia’s final tally showed BN with 21 seats, PN with three and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) with four. The 28-seat assembly needs 19 seats for a two-thirds majority.
BN’s total matches the 21 seats it won in 2021; PN is up one seat, while PH fell from five to four, according to the commission’s results and EconoTimes’ pre-election coverage of Melaka’s assembly balance.
The commission confirmed 79 candidates for the 28 seats, and its dashboard listed 687,697 registered voters. Election Commission Chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said 493,573 people voted, or 71.77% of the electorate, counting ordinary, early and postal voters.
Channel NewsAsia’s pre-election coverage attributed to observers the view that the BN-PN alliance would strengthen its position among Malay voters relative to PH. The commission’s published results show party totals and overall turnout, but no ethnic breakdown of voting.
