Mahathir Says Poised to Lead Malaysia Again after Election Win
10 May 2018 15:06 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Kuala Lumpur - Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday brushed aside doubts that he would become Malaysia`s next prime minister following his shock election victory over the coalition that has ruled the Southeast Asian nation for six decades since independence from Britain.
"There is an urgency here, we need to form the government now, today," Mahathir told a news conference, where he insisted that he would be sworn in as prime minister later on Thursday.
Malaysia's constitutional monarch has granted Mahathir an audience at 5:00 p.m. (09:00 GMT), a leader from his Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) told Reuters.
Mahathir ruled Malaysia with an iron fist from 1981 to 2003 and now, with a second innings at the age of 92, is set to become the oldest elected leader in the world.
His alliance of four parties trounced the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was once Mahathir's protege but became his most bitter rival.
Read: Mahathir to be Sworn in as Malaysian PM after Historic Poll Win
Earlier on Thursday, Najib appeared to raise doubts that Mahathir would immediately take office because no single party had won a simple majority of seats in the 222-member parliament, and it would be up to the monarch to decide.
Official results showed that Mahathir's coalition won 113 seats, one more than the number required to rule. But it has not been formally registered as an alliance.
In jubilant mood and cracking jokes, Mahathir dismissed any doubts he would be prime minister. "I got up late, lots of people got up late," he replied when asked why there was a delay in swearing him in, noting that the election result was only officially announced around 5 a.m.
He said he had been assured of support from a raft of parties that would give his government 135 members of parliament.
Malaysian markets were closed and will reopen only on Monday, but overseas investors were nervous about the ouster of Najib, who has been in power for nearly a decade. The ringgit lost four percent in offshore trading, while an overseas Malaysian equity fund showed a 6 percent drop in share values.
"This upset ranks up there with Brexit and the Trump election," said Aninda Mitra, a senior sovereign analyst at BNY Mellon Investment Management. "I believe the ringgit will come under pressure as policy continuity will come under a cloud."
REUTERS