Malaysia's Mohammed Mahathir set to become world's oldest leader at 92 after shock victory

MALAYSIA'S former prime minister Dr Mohammed Mahathir looks set to become the world's oldest leader at the age of 92 his stunning win over the scandal-plagued ruling coalition in the country's recent general elections.

In a huge political upset, Dr Mahathir’s opposition alliance ended the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition's hold on power earlier this month. It capped a dramatic political comeback for Dr Mahathir, who previously ruled the country with an iron fist for 22 years and came out of retirement to take on Prime Minister Najib Razak after the leader became embroiled in a massive corruption scandal.

Dr Mahathir is expected to be sworn in at 5pm today and will subsequently become the world’s oldest leader. In a volte-face, Dr Mahathir, himself, once a Barisan Nasional leader, had thrown in his lot with an alliance of opposition parties he crushed while in power, including jailed opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, his former nemesis.

Once his finance minister and deputy, Mr Ibrahim was sacked, tried and jailed by Dr Mahathir but now the two appear to have made their peace. Dr Mahathir has pledged to get Mr Anwar, who is due out of jail in June, a royal pardon and eventually pass the premiership to a man who is one of the country’s most charismatic and popular politicians.

However concerns mounted about the transfer of power this morning after Dr Mahathir was not inaugurated by the king, as had been widely expected. Dr Mahathir said there had been some delays due to confusion over certain parts of the constitution but this had now been cleared up and called for his inauguration to take place today.

Dr Mahathir said: “We expect today for me to be sworn in as prime minister. There is an urgency here as currently there is no government in Malaysia.”

His speech came after Mr Najib, in his first public comments since his shock loss, said he accepted the people’s will but did not give a clear concession. He added that it was up to the king to decide on the prime minister as no single party had won a clear majority.

Analysts have warned he could be trying to buy time to win defections from other parties over, in what would be a desperate bid to cling to power despite a landslide defeat. To claim a simple majority in Malaysia's parliament, a party or coalition would require 112 seats but the opposition alliance Pact of Hope, along with a small ally on Borneo island, won 121, with the ruling Barisan Nasional  winning just 79 seats, down from 133 previously.

The opposition’s shock victory triggered euphoria and a sense of relief that a leader who was accused of massive graft and fanning racial tensions was finally on his way out. Mr government was accused of gerrymandering while activists said he hurled cash and gifts at voters and there was a litany of problems with the electoral roll, including dead people appearing on the list.

Mr Najib’s defeat could be just the start of his problems as Dr Mahathir has vowed to bring him to justice over allegations that billions of dollars were looted from the sovereign wealth fund which the scandal-hit leader set up and oversaw. In Mahathir, the opposition found the perfect person to take on Mr Najib as he is a staunch Malay nationalist who could appeal to the country’s biggest ethnic group and whose years in power were remembered as a prosperous period in the country’s history.

Mahathir was also accused of being an authoritarian leader, and political opponents were thrown in jail during his time in office. His Barisan Nasional has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, with Dr Mahathir himself in office between 1981 and 2003.