Malaysia’s Mahathir defeated in polls first time in 53 years.
One of Asia’s most steadfast leaders, Mahathir Mohamad, a 97-year-old senior statesman of Malaysian politics, lost his parliamentary seat on Saturday.
According to the nation’s electoral commission, Mahathir finished fourth in a five-way race in his long-held electorate on the tourist island of Langkawi.
It was his first electoral loss in over fifty years.
When Mahathir took office for a second time as prime minister in 2018, two months short of turning 93, he held the Guinness World Record for being the “world’s oldest current prime minister.”
He campaigned this time under his own Homeland Fighters’ Party and had shrugged off suggestions that he should retire, assuring reporters before the election that he had a “strong chance” of winning despite clearly being hampered by age but still appearing well.
In Malaysia longtime Prime Minister and political fixture for 55 years Mahathir Mohamad has lost his own seat with a mere 10% of the vote pic.twitter.com/Yb5IYpLgKS
— Daniel (@DanielBerman2) November 19, 2022
Mahathir answered, “I believe I’m still talking to you and giving fair responses.
The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party of imprisoned former prime minister Najib Razak, was apparently referred to when he said that his party would not create any partnerships with parties that are run by “crooks or jailbirds.”
“Mahathir’s time is over,”
Mahathir was criticised for using an iron fist to rule the country of Southeast Asia from 1981 to 2003, but he is also praised for his role in transforming it from a sleepy backwater into one of the top exporters of high-tech goods in the world.
Mahathir’s lengthy rule brought about political stability, and he earned the moniker “Father of Modern Malaysia” by supervising the development of industrial parks and highways in the 1980s and 1990s.
In response to popular resentment over the role played by the then-incumbent Najib in the enormous financial scandal at state fund 1MDB, he came out of his 15-year retirement to lead the opposition Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) coalition in the 2018 elections.
UMNO and Najib, who was later found guilty of corruption and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence, were defeated by the reformist group in a surprising triumph.
Mahathir regained the position of premier, but internal strife caused his administration to fall in less than two years.
If Najib’s UMNO allies win, he has threatened that the imprisoned politician will be set free.
In addition, he offered to run for prime minister a third time, but analysts claimed he was doomed from the start.
His fierce disagreements with his former heir-apparent Anwar Ibrahim have dominated and influenced Malaysian politics for the past twenty years. Anwar Ibrahim is the leader of the opposition.
In the end, his greatest adversary was age.
Bridget Welsh of the University of Nottingham Malaysia told AFP earlier this month before the election that “Mahathir’s time has passed.”
