KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Mahathir Mohamad, leader of the Malaysian opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan, said on Wednesday that the opposition "is taking a substantial lead" in vote counting and may have achieved enough seats to form the government.

The election commission has yet to announce the final results.

"We need to have only 112 (seats) and we would win. It seems that we have practically achieved that figure," Mahathir told a press conference, adding that there is no way the Barisan Nasional coalition, which led the country for six decades, can catch up.

The former prime minister also urged the election commission to release the final results as soon as possible.

A simple majority of 112 seats in the 222-seat lower house of the parliament will generate a winner.