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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigns

Politics in Malaysia returned to chaos on Monday as Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad submitted his resignation to the country’s king.

The prime minister’s office confirmed the decision in a short statement, saying the resignation letter was sent at 1 p.m. local time (0500 UTC).

Minutes before the resignation, Mahathir’s Bersatu party confirmed it had pulled out a four-party alliance that unexpectedly ousted the government of former leader Najib Razak in 2018.

As part of the coalition deal, 94-year-old Mahathir had promised that his longtime arch-rival Anwar Ibrahim would succeed him as prime minister in a year or two.

However, rumors emerged at the weekend that the Bersatu party was trying to form a new government and thwart Ibrahim’s succession bid.

The move by the Bersatu party would allow Mahathir — the world’s oldest prime minister — to remain in power for the full five-year term.

Mahathir, who first held the position of prime minister from 1981 to 2003, had repeatedly refused to say when he will transfer power.

His stalling has reignited his decades-old feud with the 72-year-old Anwar. The pair were Malaysia’s top two leaders during Mahathir’s first stint as premier but fell out politically.

Anwar on Sunday denounced a “betrayal” by his coalition partners that effectively annuls their historic election victory that ousted another coalition that had ruled Malaysia since independence.






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