Negeri Sembilan polls: Zahid declares BN-PN supermajority victory, with Anwar’s PH poised to suffer setback

Unofficial results show Pakatan Harapan heavyweights such as Transport Minister Anthony Loke and caretaker chief minister Aminuddin Harun both losing their state assembly seats.

SEREMBAN: The Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions have claimed a decisive victory in the Negeri Sembilan state election on Saturday (Aug 1), saying they won 25 of the 36 seats to form a supermajority in the legislative state assembly.

In claiming victory, BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his coalition has won 18 seats while electoral partner PN won seven seats.

“The (electoral understanding) between BN and PN in the Negeri Sembilan election will result in the formation of a stable government,” Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, said at BN’s election war room at the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Negeri Sembilan headquarters in Seremban.

“I record my highest appreciation and thanks to all voters who … gave their trust to BN and PN to lead the Negeri Sembilan state administration,” he said at a press conference at about 9.10pm.

There were joyous scenes at the location, with thousands of BN supporters there to celebrate the victory, though it has not been confirmed by the Election Commission (EC), which is expected to announce official results close to midnight.

Also present were opposition leader Hamzah Zainuddin as well as Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan. The latter two are leaders in PN component parties, with Hamzah being president of Parti Wawasan Negara.

The results - if confirmed - would mark a dramatic reversal of the political landscape in the southwestern Malaysian state, driven by a powerful Malay-Muslim unity narrative that severely eroded the support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH).

Based on unofficial results, PH heavyweights such as caretaker chief minister Aminuddin Harun and Transport Minister Anthony Loke have lost.

Aminuddin lost to BN’s Mohd Faizal Ramli in Linggi, while Loke lost his Chennah seat - which he has held for three terms - to BN’s John Siow Chong Kun.

In conceding defeat, Loke said that PH lost the Chennah seat by a majority of less than 500 votes.

"I want to thank everyone. Please don't be disheartened or disappointed. We will continue to be with all of you. Even though we could not win this seat, all of you will always be in our hearts," he said in a video uploaded on the Facebook page of Chinese language news outlet Sin Chew Daily.

A PH loss in Negeri Sembilan would be yet another blow to Anwar, following the recently concluded Johor state election last month and the Sabah state polls in November.

Unofficial results show that PH won only 11seats, down from the 17 it secured in the last state election. Meanwhile, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) - which remains part of PN but contested in the state election on its own - did not win any seats.

The previous election in 2023 saw BN and PH having an electoral pact. BN had previously secured 14 seats while PN won five seats.

A political party or coalition needs to win at least 19 seats to form the state government.

Saturday’s polls saw 11 straight fights, 21 three-cornered contests, two four-cornered contests and two five-cornered fights.

The Negeri Sembilan snap state election was held against a backdrop of a royal deadlock with two claims to the throne.

It led to the then-chief minister Aminuddin of PH to dissolve the state legislative assembly after 14 UMNO assemblymen withdrew their support for him over his handling of the crisis involving the monarchy. UMNO is a lynchpin party of the BN coalition.

Although partners at the federal level, BN and PH contested directly against each other in both the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state polls.

Relations have also come under strain in Melaka after four Democratic Action Party (DAP) assemblymen quit the state government last month. DAP is a PH component party headed by Loke.

Zahid said on Saturday that BN and PN will now turn their attention to the impending Melaka state election, which is due by February next year.

While top leaders of coalitions in Anwar’s government - including from BN - have pledged support for it to continue until the end of its term, analysts have said that the results could push him to call for snap polls at the federal level.

The 16th general elections must be held by February 2028.