Malaysia’s Opposition Wins After 60 years

• Malaysia’s Opposition Wins After 60 years

A coalition party led by the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad won majority seats in a shocking victory that puts an end to the ruling party, Barisan Nasional’s, 60 years in power.

The Pakatan Harapan led by 92 years old Mahathir won 113 seats of the 222 member parliament to emerge a clear winner following the failure of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Barisan Nasional coalition party to convince Malaysian people of his commitment to the people following a series of corruption and scandal that plunged the economy and led to the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Mahathir, who formed a coalition party with other concerned parties, is expected to be sworn in as Malaysia’s Prime Minister on Thursday, making him the world’s oldest prime minister.

The former Prime Minister who came out of retirement and immediately aligned with opposition to take on his one-time protégé, Najib Razak, beset by corruption allegations said his coalition would restore the rule of law and make Malaysia work for everyone.

Mahathir was Malaysian Prime Minister under Barisan Nasional between 1981 and 2003 when he stepped down. During his 22 years of leadership, Malaysia became one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, growing at the rate of 8.7 percent between 1991-1995. Inflation rate improved to 3.8 percent while foreign debt was contained at $45.2 billion.

Mahathir and his government restricted foreign borrowing, therefore, his administration was able to curb excessive borrowing in the banking sector and avoid banking collapse that hits most nations in the region during Asian financial crisis.

Malaysians celebrating the historic victory.