In a stunning electoral reversal, Malaysia's ruling coalition that had alienated ethnic-Indians failed to secure a two-third majority for the first time in five decades and was defeated in five states, prompting demands for premier Abdullah Badawi resignation but he remained defiant.

Badawi on Sunday said he will not resign as he is not under pressure to do so, the state-run Bernama news agency said after his predecessor and mentor Mahathir Mohammed joined the chorus pressing for his ouster following the Barisan Nasional's win in only 139 seats in the 222-member Parliament.

Badawi's gamble for a snap poll backfired as the coalition came up with its worst ever electoral performance, losing power in four out of 12 states for the first time-- Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Perak. The opposition retained its hold on the Kelantan state.

The opposition parties together have won 82 seats compared to only 19 in the outgoing parliament.

Among the key losses to Barisan were the president of the Malaysian Indian Congress Samy Vellu, the lone ethnic Indian in the cabinet who had derided the street protests by the community against alleged racial discrimination.

The MIC won only three of the nine parliamentary seats and seven of the 19 state seats allocated to it. The party was wiped out in the states of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor.

The ethnic Indian voters, who form nearly 8 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million population, helped the opposition win more mixed seats, Jenison Jayasooria, Executive Director of MIC's think tank Yayasan Strategic Sosial said.

M Manoharan, one of the five Hindraf leaders held under a draconian security law that allows indefinite detention without trial for spearheading protests by ethnic Indians, won convincingly on DAP ticket.

Indian voters formed significant numbers in at least 67 parliamentary and 141 state assembly seats where they comprise between nine and 46 per cent of the electorate.

The MIC now becomes the only party with its top leaders -president Velu, deputy president G Palanivel, and three vice presidents S Sothinathan, S Veerasingam and K S Nijhar - not to have parliamentary seats to their names.

Mahathir, who was the premier for 22 years and has constantly attacked Badawi during the last two years, squarely blamed his handpicked successor and said the premier should take full responsibility for the major defeat of the party.

"He should accept responsibility for this, just as in 2004 the huge victory was reportedly due to him, 100 per cent, and that was said by the then secretary-general of Umno.

"But now also he should accept 100 per cent responsibility. He has destroyed Umno (the Malay party component of Barisan Nasional), he has destroyed BN, and he should be responsible of this massive defeat," Mahathir, known for his sharp tongue told a news conference hours after the election results were announced here.

"I think the Japanese would have committed harakiri. But I think Malays are not up to this yet. I think he should consider stepping down," Bernama news agency quoted him as saying adding he would have done the same thing if he was in Badawi's shoes now.

To a question on whether the ruling coalition had miscalculated in holding the general election early, Mahathir said he doubted that postponing it by another year would have made any difference.

Badawi will approach the constitutional monarch tomorrow to ask permission to form the government. Describing the verdict as a "political tsunami", the Star daily said

"Malaysia is in shock. The Barisan Nasional is reeling from its worst ever election performance."