Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian newly re-elected Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is set to meet Malaysian King Muhammad V of Kelantan on Thursday to hold talks on forming a new government.
Earlier in the day, his party Pakatan Harapan had won a majority in fiercely contested election, defeating his opponent Najib Razak while putting an end to six-decade-old coalition rule.
He will take oath as the Malaysian Prime Minister today and become the oldest elected leader at the age of 92.
Mohamad was Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, holding office from 1981 to 2003.
As per media reports, under PM Mohamad’s governance, there was a rapid economic growth in Malaysia. Though, his governance was also said to be authoritarian.
In 2015, Mahathir switched to the opposition party.
Pakatan Harapan won 112 parliament seats needed for a simple majority to form the country’s next government, according to Malaysian news reports.
Former Prime Minister Najib had been in power since 2009. His governance was riddled with 1MDB corruption scandal in which 2.6 billion dollars was embezzled from a government fund he was overseeing including 681 million dollars that was later transferred to his account. (ANI)