Malaysia elections: opposition takes narrow early lead

Clear winner from three main contenders looks unlikely in first election since voting age lowered to 18

Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim took a narrow lead in Saturday's general election, though he and his main contenders were far short of a simple majority needed to form the government, early results from the election commission showed.

The former premier Muhyiddin Yassin took an early close second, while the ruling coalition of the prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, put up the weakest showing among the three main contenders, losing ground in traditional strongholds, the results showed.