LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA — Dr Mahathir Mohamad failed to defend his seat in the Langkawi constituency at the 15th Malaysia General Election and lost by a huge margin to his competitors.
The official tally from the Election Commission shows that the 97-year-old elder statesman — who is contesting under the newly formed Homeland Fighters’ Party, only managed to secure a total of 4,566 votes (6.8 per cent).
On the other hand, Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate, Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah has won the seat with a total of 25,463 valid votes (38.1 per cent).
Barisan Nasional (BN)’s candidate, Armishah Siraj obtained 11,945 votes (17.9 per cent) while Pakatan Harapan (PH)’s candidate Zabidi Yahya received 5,417 votes (8.1).
Both Dr Mahathir and Zahidi lost their election deposit of RM10,000 for failing to garner 12.5 per cent of the votes.
In comparison, Dr Mahathir garnered 54.9 per cent or 18,954 votes in the 2018 general election, contesting under the flag of PH and as the leader of the coalition.
Langkawi became an international tourism destination under Dr Mahathir’s watch as Prime Minister, by heavily investing in the development of the island.
During nomination, Dr Mahathir told reporters that he stood a “good chance” of winning and laughed off suggestions he should retire.
“I’m still standing around and talking to you, I think making reasonable answers,” he said.
Dr Mahathir, who first served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, came out of retirement to lead the opposition in the 2018 general elections.
The alliance of hope won a stunning victory over then-incumbent Najib Razak, who was later convicted of corruption linked to the 1MDB state fund financial scandal and is now serving a 12-year jail sentence.
Dr Mahathir became prime minister again just two months shy of his 93rd birthday, but his government collapsed in less than two years due to infighting.
Following this, he announced the formation of a new political party, Homeland Fighters’ Party in August 2020 but the party only managed to officially register in July last year.
With this loss and his age, it would seem that Mahathir’s era in Malaysian politics might just be over.
