KUALA LUMPUR, NOVEMBER 21 – The recently ended 15th General Election (GE15) has thrown Malaysia into uncharted territory, with a deadlocked parliament in which neither coalition cleared the crucial line of 112 simple majority to form the next government unilaterally.
The dilemma is not surprising, according to Universiti Tun Abdul Razak Economist, Prof Dr Barjoyai Bardai, who added that that is how democracy works today.
“A mixed administration of multiple political parties can be created without a majority of winning seats, and a new coalition arises,” he told Bernama in an interview.
As a result of the death on Wednesday of the Pakatan Harapan (PH-PKR) candidate for Padang Serai, incumbent M.Karupaiya, polling in the Padang Serai parliamentary constituency in Kedah has been postponed until December 7.
The revised deadline for candidate nominations is November 24. At the same time, floods forced the suspension of voting at 11 polling sites in Sarawak’s Baram parliamentary seat, with voters pictured standing knee-deep in floodwaters.
According to Barjoyai, recent developments in the United Kingdom, in which then-prime minister Liz Truss was replaced 45 days after being appointed, demonstrate that rotating prime minister – a swap method that allows the government to exist without the need for a single majority party – is feasible.
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