19:44, 06-Apr-2018
Malaysia Ruling Coaltion Backgrounder
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Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional was founded in 1973. It was formed as a coalition of right-wing and centrist parties. The biggest of these parties is Najib's United Malay National Organization party which has governed the country since the end of British rule in 1957.
Barisan Nasional has dominated Malaysian politics for over 30 years, but the strength of the opposition has been growing. It lost more than a third of the parliamentary seats in 2008 and recorded its worst ever election result in 2013 with only 40 percent of the popular vote. But Najib remained in power due to Malaysia's "first-past-the-post" election system.