Crushing defeat: Malaysia for the first time faces a parliament without a leading party

Malaysia is facing a hung parliament for the first time in its political history after divisions and a bitter general election prevented major parties from gaining enough votes to form a new government.

The result has led to new political upheaval in the Southeast Asian nation as rival leaders struggle to widen the juxtaposition in renewed efforts to form a clear majority. Whoever wins will become Malaysia’s fourth prime minister in as many years as the country battles rising inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

When all but one of the parliamentary seats were announced on Sunday morning, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Pakatan Harapan’s multi-ethnic coalition took the lead with 82 out of a possible 220 seats, according to the country’s Electoral Commission results.

Not far from it follows the Malay Perikatan Nasional or former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s National Alliance with 73 seats. Muhyiddin’s group includes an Islamist party that openly supports sharia, or Islamic law.

But the biggest disappointment of the night was Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition of center-right political parties, including the dominant United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which suffered a stunning defeat with just 30 seats.

Officials from the UMNO, which has ruled Malaysia for more than six decades since it gained independence from the UK, previously told CNN the party has “a lot of work to do” and doesn’t want to back down.