Malaysia’s Mahathir sworn in as world’s oldest prime minister
Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, 92, was on Thursday sworn in as the country’s seventh prime minister, after a shock election win against the country’s long-ruling coalition.
Mahathir’s opposition alliance scored a surprise victory at the polls to break the grip on power of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has governed Malaysia uninterrupted since its birth as an independent country in 1957.
It capped a dramatic comeback for Mahathir, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 22 years and came out of retirement to take on Prime Minister Najib Razak after the leader became embroiled in a massive corruption scandal.
A palace statement said King Sultan Muhammad V had “decided to invite Tun Dr Mahathir to form the next federal government,” using a Malaysian honorific.
He was sworn in during a brief and simple ceremony attended by leaders of parties in the Pakatan Harapan alliance.
Earlier, Mahathir and his wife Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali were driven into the national palace in Kuala Lumpur for an audience with the king, passing hundreds of supporters waving flags and chanting the national anthem.
Mohamad Azlan Shah, a member of Mahathir’s party among the crowd, said he was “very proud” of the former leader’s victory.
“Our struggle to change Malaysian politics is not wasted. We believe Mahathir can make a change,” he told AFP.
As it became clear that Barisan Nasional was facing a historic wipeout, Najib kept a low profile before surfacing on Thursday morning to tell a press conference that he accepted the people’s will,
KUALA LUMPUR:
Najib Razak Scrap GST within the first 100 days in office
Reintroduce fuel subsidies Raise minimum wages
A prime minister for 22 years, Mahathir — a one-time medical doctor — led the Barisan Nasional with an iron firs and used controversial security laws to lock up his political opponents
Under his leadership, Malaysia became one of the Asian tigers in the 1990s
MAHATHIR’S RELATIONSHIP WITH
NAJIB RAZAK
Once his mentor, Mahathir and Najib had a bitter falling over a number of issues, including Najib’s decision to abolish the Internal Security Act, his performance in the 2013 general election and the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal. Fed up, Mahathir in 2016 defected to the Pakatan Harapan, saying he was "embarrassed" to be associated "with a party seen as supporting corruption"
although he stopped short of conceding defeat.
The opposition’s shock victory triggered euphoria and a sense of relief that a leader who was accused of massive graft and fanning racial tensions in the multiethnic country was finally on his Around 7% of Malaysia's population is of Indian origin, and the community had an uneasy relationship with Mahathir — the representation of Indians in government jobs fell from 40% to 4% during his 22 year tenure
ANWAR IBRAHIM
Ibrahim was once Mahathir’s deputy prime minister before the two fell out over differences in policies, a move than turned Ibrahim into an opposition leader overnight. Mahathir's response was to have Ibrahim jailed on what many believe were trumped-up charges. After Mahathir's defection, he mended ties with Ibrahim and has vowed to step aside when Ibrahim is released from prison and is eligible to stand for office again.
way out.
The opposition faced an uphill battle at the election due to what critics said were no-holds-barred attempts by Najib to hang on to power.
In the event, voters turned out in droves across the country to
oust Najib. His defeat could be just the start of his problems -Mahathir has vowed to bring him to justice over allegations that billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which the scandal-hit leader set up and oversaw.