A surprising rise in Malaysian election

SO, Malaysians voted last Saturday after a grueling fortnight of boisterous campaigning which saw some political leaders crisscross the country to root for their candidates. The voters chose their federal members of parliament (MPs) as well as assembly members in three states. The election results were at once surprising — and not. For going into the general election, it was clear that none of the three major party coalitions — the racialist Barisan Nasional (BN), the religious and racialist Perikatan Nasional (PN), and the reformist Pakatan Harapan (PH) — is likely to obtain a parliamentary majority which would enable it to form a government by itself.

But there was also the "convenient" — at least in retrospect — expectations among many voters and observers alike that the two frontrunning contender coalitions would be BN that had run the country for more than half a century, and PH that also had less than two years of ruling period, with PN relegated to a distant third. This was not an unreasonable presumption, as BN won the last two state elections in Peninsular Malaysia handsomely, and PH came in a distant second while PN was almost wiped out. It was thought that BN would carry its triumphant state momentum into the national election, and perhaps once again lead the crowded electoral field, or at least put up a good fight with PH.