Jakarta, IO – Former Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad surprisingly lost his parliamentary seat in the island of Langkawi.
This was his first election defeat in 53 years. Many believe the election which concluded on Saturday (19/11) marked the end of Mahathir’s political career which started from 1969, reported Tribunnews, Monday (21/11).
Mahathir was defeated by Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, the candidate from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition led by former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
In an interview with Reuters this month, Mahathir said he would retire from politics if he lost the election. He said the most important thing for him was to pass on his knowledge to the next generation.
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“I don’t see myself being active in politics until I am 100 years old. The most important thing is to transfer my experience to the young leaders of the party,” he said. (un)