Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad lost his parliamentary seat in Saturday’s general election, likely ending the career of one of Asia’s most durable politicians. Mahathir came fourth in a five-way race in his constituency in the tourist resort of Langkawi, the country’s election commission said on Saturday. “It’s a big surprise that he not only has [Mahathir] he lost, but he lost spectacularly,” said Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi, reporting from Kuala Lumpur. “Not only did he lose his seat, but he lost his testimony because he failed to get more than one-eighth of the vote. His party also failed to win a single seat.” It was the 97-year-old’s first election defeat in more than half a century. He served as the Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years from 1981 to 2003. He returned to politics two years ago in the wake of the multibillion-dollar scandal at sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. Mahathir held the Guinness World Record for the “world’s oldest current prime minister” when he became prime minister in 2018, just two months shy of his 93rd birthday. Mahathir contested the election under his own Fighters for the Fatherland Party. [Malaysian Department of Information/Hafiz Itam/Handout via Reuters]
“Cheaters or Jailers”
Visibly stunted by age but still looking healthy, Mahathir ran this time with his hometown Fighters Party and had laughed off suggestions he should retire, telling reporters before the election he had a “good chance” of win. “I’m still standing around talking to you, I think, giving reasonable answers,” Mahathir said. He added that his party would not form alliances with parties led by “crooks or jailers” – an apparent reference to the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the party of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling Barisan Nasional coalition – which is dominated by his UMNO party – lost ground to rival alliances led by former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The corruption-tainted Barisan Nasional coalition, which ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain until 2018, could return to power depending on post-election alliances. Mahathir has been criticized for ruling the Southeast Asian nation with an iron fist from 1981 to 2003, but is also hailed for transforming the country from a sleepy backwater into one of the world’s leading exporters of high-tech goods. His long leadership provided political stability and earned him the title of “Father of Modern Malaysia” as he oversaw the construction of highways and industrial parks in the 1980s and 1990s. The reform alliance Pakatan Harapan led by Mahathir won a stunning victory over UMNO and Najib, who was later convicted of corruption and is serving a 12-year prison sentence. Mahathir became prime minister again, but his government collapsed in less than two years due to infighting. He has warned that Najib would be released if the jailed politician’s UMNO allies win. He also offered to become prime minister for a third time, but observers said he had no chance from the start. His bitter clashes with opposition leader Anwar, his once-apparent successor with whom he had a bitter feud, have dominated and shaped Malaysian politics for the past two decades. After all, age was his biggest adversary. “Mahathir’s time is over,” Bridget Wells of the University of Nottingham Malaysia told AFP earlier this month ahead of the election.
