Scoring a historic victory, Mahathir Mohamad wins Malaysian Election becoming the next Prime Minister

Malaysia, May 10: Scoring a historic victory Mahathir Mohamad won the Malaysia’s election by ending the six decade rule of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s party in a landmark shift for the Southeast Asian nation.

 

Mahathir, Malaysia’s longest-serving premier, who defected to the opposition to take on Najib, will return to power at the age of 92. His four-party Pakatan Harapan alliance won at least 112 of 222 parliamentary seats in Wednesday’s vote.

Najib had faced increased public anger over a goods-and-services tax that boosted prices and a money laundering scandal involving hundreds of millions of dollars siphoned from state investment firm 1MDB. While Najib denied wrongdoing, Mahathir lambasted him as a “thief” on the campaign trail.

The result represents a monumental shift in a nation long defined by racial politics that hasn’t seen a transfer of power since independence in 1957. It’s also a win for democracy in Southeast Asia, where generals and authoritarian leaders often lock up opponents and stifle free speech.

Winning the elections Mahathir immediately gave an assurance that the new Pakatan government would not go on a witch hunt, but he quickly added that the law would take its course.

Mahathir and the opposition had used Najib’s link to the corruption scandal as a key theme of their election campaign.