Historic comeback for Mahathir in Malaysia
OPPOSITION ALLIANCE ENDS 60-YEAR RULE OF NATIONAL FRONT
Official results in Malaysia’s national election late last night confirmed the opposition alliance (Pakatan Harapan), led by the country’s former ruler Mahathir Mohammad, has won a majority in parliament, ending the 60-year rule of the National Front. The Election Commission said the opposition has so far won 112 seats and the National Front (Barisan Nasional) has 76 seats.
The opposition is also sweeping state elections, including Johor state where the dominant Malay party in the National Front was founded.
Malaysian voters have been angered by a corruption scandal involving Prime Minister Najeeb Razzak and new taxes.
Mahathir said after he led the opposition alliance to a historic election victory that he expects a prime minister will be sworn in within a day.
Mahathir was the country’s authoritarian leader for 22 years until 2003. He claimed the opposition’s majority is bigger than announced so far.
The 92-year-old said a representative of Malaysia’s constitutional monarchy has contacted the opposition to acknowledge its victory.
Mahathir emerged from retirement and joined the opposition after being angered by the corruption scandal involving Najeeb.
Before the official count was declared, addressing reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Mahathir, who came out of retirement to take on his former protege Najeeb and the party he himself led for years — said he believed his coalition had achieved the number of parliamentary seats needed for victory.
Malaysia’s opposition alliance headed by veteran exleader Mahathir Mohammad, 92, has won a historic election victory, official results showed today, ending the six-decade rule of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
The results from the Election Commission showed the opposition grouping, Pakatan Harapan, plus a party in the Borneo state of Sabah they are allied with, winning 115 seats - giving them a simple parliamentary majority.
Mahathir announced the swearing in of the prime minister would occur within a day, reports said.
Graft scandal
In the federal election, Prime Minister Najeeb Razzak’s National Front was lagging behind the opposition, which campaigned on a platform of saving Malaysia from a corrupt elite after a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at a state investment fund set up by Najeeb.
At least two Cabinet ministers appeared to have lost their parliamentary seats and the opposition also made gains in state contests, potentially threatening the grip of Najeeb’s party on Johor state, where it was founded, and other states.
“There is a massive swing across races. It’s a big shift. This is a repudiation of Najeeb’s government from all walks of life from the very rural northern states to the more industrial southern coast,” said Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert at John Cabot University in Rome.
Angered by the graft scandal, Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years until 2003, emerged from political retirement and joined the opposition in an attempt to oust Najeeb, his former protégé.
‘Still not clear’
The US Justice Department says $4.5 billion (Dh16.5 billion) was looted from 1 MBD, the investment fund, by associates of Najeeb between 2009 and 2014, including $700 million that landed in Najeeb’s bank account. He denies any wrongdoing. Analysts have previously said the National Front, which has been in power for 60 years, might lose the popular vote but hold onto a majority in parliament due to an electoral system that gives more power to rural Malays, the party’s traditional supporters.