[KUALA LUMPUR] Political parties in Malaysia were busy trying to form a coalition government on Sunday (Nov 20) – a day after a fiercely contested general election – as the country woke up to a hung parliament.

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions both claimed to have obtained a majority support to form a federal government.

The parties must each present the name of a lawmaker that it feels has the majority support in the lower house of parliament, the palace said in a statement, adding that these names must be received by 2 pm on Monday.

Malaysia’s rival coalitions are scrambling to gather support from others in order to build a majority alliance needed to form a government. The king can appoint a new prime minister if he feels that a certain lawmaker can command a majority in parliament.

PH, a coalition led by opposition leader and former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, secured the most seats – 82 – out of 219. PN, led by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, was in second place with 73.

Caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s long-ruling Barisan Nasional, which pushed hard for the snap polls to be held, was humbled as it won just 30 seats.

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Election Commission chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said the results for Kota Marudu in Sabah and Baram in Sarawak would not be announced due to the bad weather and flooding that affected voting on Saturday. The election in Padang Serai in Kedah, meanwhile, was postponed to Dec 7 due to the death of a candidate last week.

The coalition that can obtain at least 112 seats will have control of Malaysia’s next parliament. This means Anwar’s PH needs the support from at least 30 other lawmakers, while PN needs another 39.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, PN chairman Muhyiddin said that a meeting was held with the chairmen of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak to discuss the formation of a federal government. PAS is a component party of PN.

Muhyiddin, 75, said he is ready to form a new government but has ruled out the possibility of entering a coalition with PH.

“We will ensure that the government formed is a stable government. Hence, we will consider working with other parties, especially if they are aligned with our principles,” said Muhyiddin at a press conference on Sunday morning.

During the media conference, hundreds of PN supporters shouted “Tolak (Malay for ‘reject’) BN” and “Tolak Zahid”, in a reference to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing 47 graft charges in court.

At a separate media conference, Anwar, who is also 75 years old, dismissed Muhyiddin’s claims that PN had enough support to form the new government. He added that PH has managed to secure “a simple majority” to form the government, but “the final decision will be up to the King’s discretion”.

This 15th general election will be remembered as the one that witnessed the downfall of many familiar faces.

Malaysia’s former two-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and his Gerakan Tanah Air-Pejuang coalition ended up the biggest loser, failing to win a single seat out of the 125 they contested.

Mahathir, who was unsuccessful in defending his Langkawi seat as the founder of the new Pejuang party, suffered his first electoral defeat in 53 years. To make matters worse, the 97-year-old didn’t even manage to get enough votes to take back his election deposit.

Former health minister Khairy Jamaludin, ex-finance minister Zafrul Aziz, the country’s longest-serving lawmaker Razaleigh Hamzah, former Selangor chief minister Azmin Ali, and Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, were among the other major casualties.