Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister for Malaysia, has made history, according to the results of the last general election. Mahathir, 92, conquered the opposition, Barisan Nasional coalition which has controlled the country for 6 decades.
Mahathir stepped out of his retirement comfort-zone to contest against Najib Razak, his past apprentice. Razak was surrounded by several accusations bordering on insolence and corruption. While addressing newsmen recently, Mahathir said his faction is not after taking revenge, but want only to bring back the constitution.
According to the reports from Election Commission, the opposition alliance, to which Mahathir belongs, claimed 115 posts, more than the required 112 posts for a ruling regime to be established. Mahathir is officially the first and oldest political ruler worldwide.
From Thursday to Friday, the country will enjoy work-free days to commemorate Mahathir’s victory, says a spokesperson for the government. The official conclusion on the elections shows that Pakatan Harapan alliance, Mahathir’s coalition, and the state of Sabah, Borneo, clinched 115 posts, Barisan Nasional took 79 posts, and just some seats are remaining to be counted.
Supporters of the opposition party came out en masse on the streets to jubilate after the final results were announced. Mahathir’s rival group was set up to contest against Barisan Nasional, according to the objectives of the lobby. The BN is headed by Najib Razak, the official Prime Minister.
Barisan Nasional and the main party under its umbrella, the UMNO (United Malays National Organisation), have ruled the political arena in Malaysia since 1957, when Britain granted it independence. However, the one-time strong alliance has been experiencing a steady decrease in its fame for some years now.
A party with corruptible culture
In 2013, the past election gave the Barisan Nasional party extraordinary successes, conquering the majority vote. Nonetheless, it didn’t succeed in winning sufficient posts to establish a political regime.
An unusual twist to the events occurred and the leader of the opposition at that time, Anwar Ibrahim, got jailed five years after being accused of committing sodomy. Although Ibrahim disclaimed the allegations as an attempt by his political enemies to tarnish his image, he nonetheless lost the case.
Mahathir left BN alliance in 2016. He bred and tutored Najib Razak, and he was an important component of the coalition before his departure from the party. After his departure, Mahathir said he felt ashamed to be part of such a faction that has a perspective of backing up corruption.
P.M Razak has faced series of scandalous attacks and scrutiny on corrupt practices. Among them was one money-laundering case involving $700 million. The funds were meant for an investment scheme for the state, the 1Malaysian Development Berhad. Investigations pointed accusing fingers at him as the looter.
He, however, denied every accusation aggressively and the Malaysian government set him free. The case remains under investigation by many other countries. Najib Razak is suspected to be strangling the progress of the Malaysian probe faction by firing primary officials.
Bersih 2.0 faults the Election Commission
Lately, the administration gave a law that demands election limits. The action led to allegations that the authorities had doctored constituencies so as to make sure that Malay Muslims, who have always been BN followers, filled it.
Some days prior to the elections, Bersih 2.0 alleged that the Election Commission (EC) was guilty of several anomalies relating to the elections, among them were inconsistencies in the voting done through a postal process. The commission, according to the group, didn’t include those who are dead in the electoral records.
The administration had promised that the election was going to be transparent and fair. P.M Razak said the Election Commission worked to ensure the well-being of all and sundry. A disputable false legal information was launched not long ago. Critics are of the opinion that such false information could be utilized by leaders to conceal discord. Mahathir is also going through probes under the same law. This was after he claimed his jet was wrenched into.
Malaysia makes use of an electoral approach called ‘first-past-the-post’. This approach is a process of giving the electoral victory to a party which won the highest posts in the legislative House. It doesn’t matter if the party won the majority votes or not.
