BN-PN landslide in Melaka deals Anwar a third regional defeat

The Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional alliance won 24 of the 28 seats in Melaka’s state assembly election on Saturday, one more than the 23 the two coalitions won separately in 2021, and BN alone reached the 15 seats needed to form the state government by 10 p.m., with the Election Commission confirming all results shortly before 11:30 p.m. Incumbent chief minister Ab Rauf Yusoh was nominated for a second term. Pakatan Harapan, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition, won four seats, one fewer than five years ago, and its chief minister candidate Adly Zahari lost his Bukit Katil seat.

BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also Anwar’s deputy prime minister in the federal unity government, called the result a hat-trick of wins following Johor in July and Negeri Sembilan in August, and said the alliance accepted it with humility. The third straight regional defeat for PH, with its support slipping among Malay voters, strengthens the case for continued BN-PN cooperation into the next general election, due by February 2028, and may embolden both alliances’ leaders to press for an early poll.