KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s former authoritarian ruler Mahathir Mohamad, who in an unlikely political comeback led opposition parties to an unprecedented election victory, said Thursday they have a clear mandate to form a government and insisted he should be immediately confirmed as prime minister. Mahathir disputed Najib’s assertion that Malaysia’s king must appoint the new prime minister because no single party has a parliamentary majority, calling it “confusion.” The constitution, he said, only specifies that the prime minister must represent those with a majority in the legislature. Mahathir is being investigated under that law for claiming his plane had been sabotaged during the campaign. People stood on roadsides waving the white, blue and red flag of the opposition alliance that triumphed in Wednesday’s election. Angered by the graft scandal at 1MDB, Mahathir emerged from political retirement and joined the opposition in an attempt to oust Najib, his former protege.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 10, 2018 05:37 UTC