Malaysia’s former prime minister and one of the world’s longest serving politicians, Mahathir Mohamad, lost his seat in Malaysia’s ongoing legislative elections on Saturday, in what is likely to be his final farewell to frontline politics.
Mahathir, 97 years old and leader of the Fatherland Movement (Gerakan Tanah Air) coalition, ended up surrendering his seat for the Langkawi archipelago constituency by finishing fourth with 4,500 votes out of nearly 45,000 cast.
His seat is now in the hands of the candidate of the National Alliance coalition (Perikatan Nasional) of Muyidin Yasin, according to the data of the National Election Commission collected by the official agency of Malaysia, Bernama.
Mahathir was instrumental in ousting the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in the historic 2018 elections before losing power in 2020.
UMNO returned to the ruling bloc, without elections through elections, after the collapse of Mahathir’s administration, but led a fragile coalition that has prompted the calling of these polls.
Mahathir, the longest serving leader in the country, was prime minister for 22 years after his first coming to power and led the country for 22 months in his second stint.
