Malaysia election: Why the results spell trouble for Pakatan Harapan and Umno

The

outcome of Malaysia’s 15th general election

has been remarkable at many levels. For the first time since independence, no coalition managed to secure a conclusive victory which would allow it to form a government outright. The hung Parliament has triggered a period of intense horse-trading among the main contenders, which continues at the point of writing and will likely ensue over the course of a very unstable next five years.

The election was an absolute disaster for the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition

and especially its key component Umno

, for which the by-election victories in Johor in 2022 and Melaka in 2021 proved to be little more than false dawns.