93-year-old former Prime Minister 'reappears' to run for election in Malaysia

Malaysia's opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan has chosen former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed for the position of prime minister if they win the upcoming election.

The Star (Malaysia) said the choice was announced at the end of the opposition alliance's two-day event in Putrajaya. However, the newspaper also mentioned that PJP Vice President Chua Tian Chang "objected to the decision and refused to accept it as the final result". The PJP is one of four parties in the opposition alliance.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir is 93 years old. He held the position of Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years until stepping down in 2003 and was one of the most influential leaders in Asia. He is currently one of five leaders of the ruling coalition, which is full of anger with current Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The Malaysian Insight also quoted a source saying that the remaining three parties in the coalition had agreed to this but had not yet reached a consensus with the People's Justice Party.

"The public must know who will run the country if we win... No matter how much you discuss, everything will lead to one thing, Mahathir knows how to do the job," The Star quoted Abdul Rashid, vice-president of Pribumi, a party in the coalition.

In 2016, Mahathir decided to put aside his old feud with former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim to prevent Prime Minister Najib from winning a third term. In 1998, Mahathir himself fired his deputy Anwar. Anwar is serving a five-year prison sentence for homosexuality but is still considered the de facto leader of the People's Justice Party.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir and his deputy Anwar (left) in 1997.

According to the decision of the opposition coalition leaders, if former Prime Minister Mahathir returns to the position of Prime Minister, his deputy will be Ms. Wan Azizah, Mr. Anwar's wife. The Malaysian Insight said Ms. Azizah basically agreed to this arrangement but faced opposition from within the People's Justice Party.

The Malaysian election will take place in August 2018.

In an interview with AP in September, former Prime Minister Mahathir said he did not want to become prime minister again and that his goal was simply to stop Prime Minister Najib and restore Malaysia's reputation.

Prime Minister Najib has denied corruption allegations following a scandal over funds worth nearly $700 million that were transferred into the accounts of 1MDB, a state investment fund set up by Najib in 2009.

Current Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

As for Mahathir, despite being 93 years old and having undergone two heart surgeries, he still maintains a busy political schedule with political events taking place across the country. When the 1MDB scandal broke out, he used his personal blog to protest Prime Minister Najib and attended marches in the capital Kuala Lumpur calling for Najib to resign.

According to Kienthuc.net.vn