Malaysia Opposition, Led by 92-Year-Old, Wins Upset Victory
May 10, 2018 22:05:53 GMT -4
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Post by lightoftheast on May 10, 2018 22:05:53 GMT -4
Malaysia hopes that giving power to the world's oldest elected leader will lead to some wisdom in its government.
Despite being 92 years old, Mahathir Mohamad was hailed as the "comeback kid" on Thursday after his party won the majority of the seats over the ruling BN coalition and paved the way for him to become prime minister.
Mahathir was seen as a strongman figure when he headed the government from 1981 to 2003 as a member of BN, which has ruled the country for the 60 years since it was freed from British rule.
But his victory this week, for the opposition Pakatan Harapan party, represents a historic shift from one-party rule — even if the leader that brought it was part of the old system.
Mahathir defeated current prime minister Najib Razak, who was seen as the older leader's protégé but came under heavy criticism for the 1MDB corruption scandal.
That scandal involved U.S. prosecutors, who have moved to seize more than a billion dollars in assets, including a yacht and the rights to "Wolf of Wall Street," for a scheme that allegedly saw those close to Razak laundering money meant for a state development fund.
Elliott Broidy, a conservative financier who resigned from the Republican National Committee last month after allegations about payments to a Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair, was also tied to the scandal.
Draft documents seen by the Wall Street Journal said that he and his lawyer wife Robin Rosenzweig stood to pocket $75 million if they could convince the U.S. to drop its investigation, though a lawyer for the couple said that the paperwork was never put into motion.
Razak says there was no wrongdoing in the scandal.
Mahathir said Thursday that he is not seeking "revenge" against his predecessor but wants to restore the rule of law.
The nonagenarian is expected to serve two years as prime minister before giving the position to Anwar Ibrahim, another former protégé who is currently in jail for having sex with a male political aide — illegal in the Muslim country — but likely will be pardoned.
92 year old leader elected with heavy support of 40% of his country’s youngster(main support base).World is strange!
Despite being 92 years old, Mahathir Mohamad was hailed as the "comeback kid" on Thursday after his party won the majority of the seats over the ruling BN coalition and paved the way for him to become prime minister.
Mahathir was seen as a strongman figure when he headed the government from 1981 to 2003 as a member of BN, which has ruled the country for the 60 years since it was freed from British rule.
But his victory this week, for the opposition Pakatan Harapan party, represents a historic shift from one-party rule — even if the leader that brought it was part of the old system.
Mahathir defeated current prime minister Najib Razak, who was seen as the older leader's protégé but came under heavy criticism for the 1MDB corruption scandal.
That scandal involved U.S. prosecutors, who have moved to seize more than a billion dollars in assets, including a yacht and the rights to "Wolf of Wall Street," for a scheme that allegedly saw those close to Razak laundering money meant for a state development fund.
Elliott Broidy, a conservative financier who resigned from the Republican National Committee last month after allegations about payments to a Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair, was also tied to the scandal.
Draft documents seen by the Wall Street Journal said that he and his lawyer wife Robin Rosenzweig stood to pocket $75 million if they could convince the U.S. to drop its investigation, though a lawyer for the couple said that the paperwork was never put into motion.
Razak says there was no wrongdoing in the scandal.
Mahathir said Thursday that he is not seeking "revenge" against his predecessor but wants to restore the rule of law.
The nonagenarian is expected to serve two years as prime minister before giving the position to Anwar Ibrahim, another former protégé who is currently in jail for having sex with a male political aide — illegal in the Muslim country — but likely will be pardoned.
92 year old leader elected with heavy support of 40% of his country’s youngster(main support base).World is strange!