Opposition wins three states; Najib urges all M'sians to accept his coalition's victory.

Malaysia's 13th general election turned out to be every bit as hotly contested as the surveys indicated. At press time, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), or National Front, had won a majority of 124 seats, allowing itto extend its 56‐year rule.

"I hope the opposition accepts the result with an open heart and will allow the democratic process to continue," Prime Minister Najib Razak told an early morning news conference.

He urged all Malaysians to accept his coalition's victory. "We have to show to the world that we are a mature democracy," he said.

"Despite the extent of the swing against us, (the National Front) did not fall," he said in the nationally televised news conference. At press  time, what was clearly known was that the Opposition retained the state of Penang easily and with a bigger majority. It also won the states of Selangor and Kelantan.

The biggest winner would seem to be the Opposition's secular and largely Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP) which won many of the seatsit contested at the expense of the two Chinese component parties of the BN ‐ the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Gerakan. The MCA may have won only one parliamentary seat while the Gerakan may have been completely obliterated.

The ruling BN wrested back the state of Kedah narrowly and managed to retain the other states.

Source: AmFraser