KUALA LUMPUR: The ruling coalition’s dramatic losses in Malaysia’s general election are much worse than they appear.

According to an analysis, the coalition’s share of the popular vote is barely half — about 51 per cent of the 7.9 million votes cast. Nevertheless, the ruling National Front took 63 per cent of the seats at stake in Saturday’s vote — 140 of 222 seats.

“As far as the parliamentary results are concerned, the ruling coalition should have done even more badly than what they achieved,” said Mohammad Agus Yusoff, a political science professor at the National University of Malaysia.

Take away the sparsely populated states of Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo island — where the National Front won all but two seats — and the coalition’s popular vote dips to 49.8 per cent in peninsular Malaysia, the country’s political and economic mainland.

Opposition groups have long blamed gerrymandering for such discrepancies between popular vote and seats in parliament, claiming the Election Commission distorts polling districts to favour the government.

For example, the administrative capital of Putrajaya, a government stronghold, sends one lawmaker to parliament even though its voter population is about 5,000. But Seputeh constituency in neighboring Kuala Lumpur — with more than 76,000 voters — gets only one seat in parliament, which the opposition Democratic Action Party won.Authorities, however, deny gerrymandering occurs, saying constituencies are demarcated according to size.

The National Front’s popular vote percentage has always been significantly lower than its share of parliament seats might indicate.

In the previous election in 2004, the National Front secured 91 per cent of the 219 parliamentary seats with only 64 per cent of the popular vote.

This year’s results were the National Front’s worst performance in the 51 years it has been in power. It has kept at least a two-thirds parliamentary majority in every election except in 1969, when it won 66 per cent of the seats.

The opposition increased its share of parliamentary seats from 19 to 82 and also won control of five of Malaysia’s 13 states, including Selangor and Penang, the two most industrialised states.

While the National Front retains a simple majority, the election results are expected to give the opposition a much greater voice in national politics, shaking the ruling coalition’s decades-long grip on power.

By denying the government a two-thirds majority, the opposition will be able to block the government from amending the constitution, which has led to contentious decisions on judicial and religious policies in the past.

The ruling coalition fared worst in Kuala Lumpur, the country’s financial capital, with 38 per cent of the vote going to the National Front.

The results underscore deep disaffection among Chinese and Indians, who total only about one-third of Malaysia’s 27 million people but live predominantly in the states where the opposition made surprisingly strong inroads.

“There is great disfavour in the urban population that we can see in the popular vote, which is more reflective of public sentiment,” said Tricia Yeoh, director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies think tank.

Initial estimates have indicated only around 35 per cent of ethnic Chinese voted for the National Front, down from 65 per cent in 2004, Mr Yeoh said. About 47 per cent of Indians supported the coalition, compared to 82 per cent previously.

Ethnic Chinese and Indians have increasingly griped about discrimination — particularly an affirmative action system that gives Malays preference in jobs, business and education. Urban Malaysians, including Malays, are also frustrated over rising prices and crime.—AP