KUALA LUMPUR -- A day after Malaysians cast their ballots, there is no outright winner, and negotiations began on Sunday behind closed doors to find a political formula to form a government.

There is no guarantee of stability due to the wide spread of votes. A ruling coalition requires a minimum of 112 seats in the 222-seat lower house of parliament. Two seats were not contested on Saturday because of the sudden death of a candidate and bad weather.