KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad lost his parliamentary seat in general elections held on Saturday, a defeat which may result into ending of political career of one of Asia’s most enduring politicians.
He was at the fourth position with 4 thousand 566 votes, reports suggest.
Mahathir Mohamad, who was the prime minister for two decades, was defeated by Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, the candidate of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s electoral alliance.
After this defeat, Mahathir Mohamad’s 70-year political journey is likely to come to an end.
Mahathir told Reuters in an interview this month he would retire from politics if he lost.”I don’t see myself being active in politics until I’m 100-years-old,” he said. “The most important thing is to transfer my experience to the younger leaders of the party.”
“However, I want to transfer my experience to the youth,” he said
The results so far show that the new alliance formed under the leadership of former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be successful in these elections, and Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition may stand at second position.
Al Jazeera reported that Mahathir came in fourth in a five-way fight in Langkawi, a resort island in Malaysia’s northwest, which he had won with a large majority in the previous poll in 2018.
It was the 97-year-old’s first electoral defeat in more than half a century. He was Malaysia’s prime minister for 22 years from 1981 until he announced his shock retirement in 2003.
He returned to active politics as the multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB unfolded, and joining forces with his former deputy turned rival Anwar Ibrahim to defeat the then ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition – a grouping they had both once been part of – to become prime minister against in 2018, just two months shy of his 93rd birthday.
