Malaysia's next government appeared to be leaning to the religious right after a coalition of Malay nationalists won support of an influential bloc on Sunday after tightly fought general elections failed to produce a clear winner.
The nation's king still has to approve any deal. The unprecedented hung parliament after Saturday's divisive polls saw the rise of the the Malay-centric Perikatan Nasional, or National Alliance, led by former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.