Malaysian ruling coalition suffers poll debacle

By Syed Azman

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's ruling party faced its biggest electoral debacle on Sunday, as the opposition claimed wins in five of 13 states, putting the prime minister's political future at risk.

The multi-racial National Front coalition did get at least a simple majority in parliament, the elections commission announced, and will form the government at the federal level. But the two-thirds majority in parliament it has held for most of its five-decade-long rule was in doubt.

The leftist Chinese-backed Democratic Action Party (DAP) won Penang, a manufacturing hub that is home to many multinational firms.

The opposition Islamist party PAS claimed shock victories in the northern heartland states of Kedah and Perak, and crushed the ruling coalition in the northeastern state of Kelantan, a PAS stronghold. The opposition was also gaining in Selangor state surrounding Kuala Lumpur, the state news agency Bernama said.

The poll, called before it was due in May 2009, was widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's rule, and Malaysians took the opportunity to administer a stinging rebuke over price rises, religious disputes and concerns over corruption.

"Tomorrow we will start building a brighter future," opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim told reporters. "This is a new dawn for Malaysia."

The shock defeat in Penang stirred memories of the last time the ruling coalition failed to win a two-thirds majority, in 1969, when deadly race riots erupted between majority ethnic Malays and minority Chinese.

"This is the biggest defeat ever since our (party's) founding 40 years ago," Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon said. "I feel sad and surprised. I urge all National Front members to stay calm and not to take any action that could jeopardise peace and security in the state."