ANALYSTS' VIEW: Malaysia's ruling coalition suffers upset

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's opposition handed the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition the biggest upset in its history after Saturday's elections, putting the premier's political future at risk and raising security fears.

Barisan retained a parliamentary majority, according to the election commission, but could put in its worst performance since 1969, when polls were followed by race riots and a state of emergency.

The election commission said the ruling coalition lost four states across the northern part of the peninsula and the opposition was claiming victory in a fifth state.

Indicative of the scale of the debacle, the chief of the Malaysian Indian Congress, a key component of the National Front, lost the seat he had held for 34 years.

Following are views of political analysts and politicians on Malaysia's watershed general elections.

SANI HAMID, DIRECTOR OF SOVEREIGN RATINGS, STANDARD AND POOR'S

"In my point of view there is no immediate effect on the sovereign rating, but the focus will actually be on two fronts, one is a decision-making process, i.e. what is the impact from the loss of the two-thirds majority on parliament?

"If that is going to lead a more difficult push to pass legislation, especially those measures that relate to the economy, one can imagine that if the government wants to raise oil prices, the other parties could create some opposition and the process would be more protracted.

"Secondly, the opposition states, Kedah and Penang, are key states in the northern corridor story, so how this is going to impact those states with regard to investment and public funds will have to be seen as well."