KUALA LUMPUR – Vote counting is under way in Malaysia on Saturday night, after more than 14 million people across the country cast their ballots for the 15th General Election.

Results of the closest race in Malaysia’s election history have produced some upsets, as three key coalitions and scores of smaller parties vie to form the fifth government in as many years.

Official results as at 1am have Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) neck and neck with 48 and 54 parliamentary seats each, while ruling alliance Barisan Nasional trails behind with only 23 seats. Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has 20 seats, putting it on track to become a kingmaker for the next federal government.

With only 150 seats accounted for, there remain another 50 seats for which results have yet to be announced.

PH chief Anwar Ibrahim is leading in Tambun with close to 5,000 votes, according to unofficial results. He has so far garnered 35,940 votes, while his closest rival PN’s Ahmad Faizal Azumu is trailing with 31,033., according to news site Malaysiakini. Some 195 out of 280 ballot boxes in this ward have been counted.

Former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin retained his Pagoh parliamentary ward, which he first won in 1978. The Perikatan Nasional chief fended off a challenge from Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) to retain the seat with a 10,007-vote majority.

Among the upsets was that of Malaysia’s longest-serving MP, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who lost his Gua Musang seat in Kelantan to Perikatan Nasional (PN). The Barisan Nasional stalwart - who has held the seat since 1974 - polled 21,663 votes, which is just 163 votes fewer than the winning candidate Mr Mohd Azizi, who got 21,826 votes.

Ms Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, was defeated in the family seat of Permatang Pauh in Penang, once considered a safe ward for Parti Keadilan Rakyat, which leads PH.

Meanwhile, an unofficial tally places Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari from Pakatan Harapan (PH) about 4,000 votes ahead of his key rival, caretaker minister and Perikatan Nasional candidate Azmin Ali, in the Gombak parliamentary ward in Selangor. As at 8.17pm, Datuk Seri Amirudin has picked up 12,687 votes against Datuk Seri Azmin’s 8,157, according to the unofficial tally cited by news site Malaysiakini.

A record 945 candidates were nominated to run for the 222 parliamentary seats, while over 21 million people were eligible to vote.

However, only 220 parliamentary seats completed balloting on Saturday. Voting was suspended in the rural ward of Baram, Sarawak, due to bad weather and floods. Meanwhile, the election in Padang Serai, Kedah, has been postponed to Dec 7 after its incumbent MP and Pakatan Harapan candidate Karupaiya Mutusami died on Wednesday.

Long queues at voting centres nationwide from early morning indicate a surge in interest, despite reports of political fatigue prior to the two weeks of official campaigning that began on Nov 5.

As at 4pm, the Election Commission said turnout stood at 70 per cent, or 14.8 million voters, surpassing the 12.3 million who cast their ballots in 2018.

Although pollsters on Friday predicted that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan was likely to win the most seats but fall short of a simple majority, they also warned that dozens of constituencies remained too close to call.

“Elections are the will of the people. We have to wait for their decision. I am cautiously optimistic looking at the level of support throughout the country,” Mr Anwar told reporters after voting in his hometown of Permatang Pauh, Penang.

The former deputy premier is hoping to wrest the Perak seat of Tambun from caretaker Youth and Sports Minister Faizal Azumu, as part of a high-risk strategy by his coalition to capture the swing state.

Should PH, the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) or former premier Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) all fail to clinch a simple majority of at least 112 seats, a protracted period of negotiations to form government is expected to ensue from Sunday.

Get the latest news and results for Malaysia GE at https://str.sg/malaysia-election