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KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian premier's multi-racial coalition has won a simple parliamentary majority in Saturday's general elections and will form the government at the federal level, said the Election Commission.
But the two-thirds majority in parliament it has held for most of its five-decade-long rule is in doubt.
The Election Commission said that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's Barisan Nasional (BN) had won 112 of the 165 seats for which counting was completed in the 222-member Parliament.
The opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) won 22, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) won 18, and the Islamic Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), won 13, the commission said.
The BN held a 90 percent majority in the last parliament and is set for a historic setback at these elections.
It has lost control of Chinese-dominated island state of Penang for the first time in a stunning upset. The BN has ruled Penang since 1969, led by its Chinese-based component party Gerakan.
Meanwhile, PAS has secured two-thirds majority to keep its control of Kelantan.
As vote counting continued on Sunday morning, opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim said the opposition had also won northern states of Kedah and Perak as well as central Selangor state.
"Tomorrow we will start building a brighter future...This is a new dawn for Malaysia," Anwar, de facto leader of opposition party Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), told reporters.
Saturday's poll, called before it was due in May 2009, was widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Abdullah's rule, and Malaysians took the opportunity to administer a stinging rebuke over price rises, religious disputes and concerns over corruption.
Chinese and Indians account for a third of the population of 26 million and many complain the government discriminates in favour of Malays when it comes to education, jobs, financial assistance and religious policy.
About 70 percent of Malaysia's 10.9 million eligible voters had cast ballots, the country's top poll official said. - CNA/ir
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