Malaysia on Thursday woke up to see historical shift in its politics after the general election defeat of the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition helmed by Prime Minister Najib Razak. Malaysia has been ruled by the same coalition of parties – the Barisan Nasional – since its independence.
The opposition led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad gained a simple majority in parliament as it emerged victorious in 122 out of 222 seats, enough to form the next government.
Although, the popularity of coalition government was declining but most people believed Najib Razak will manage to get required number of votes.
Ailing economy, new tax imposition on goods and service and corruption were some major issues in the elections. Najib Razak had set up a special fund to encourage foreign investment. But people involved in it have been accused of using it for their personal gain.
Nazib is also facing accusation of embezzling $700m and being investigated by several countries, including the US, so it’s been damaging for Malaysia’s reputation.
92 years old, Mahathir Mahathir has said during the election campaign that if elected he planned to pardon opposition politician and former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is currently in prison, and hand over the Prime Minister role to him.
He also promised to scrap goods and service tax and reintroduce fuel subsidies. His move could be negative for the economy.
This is the first time a new party is set to form a government in the country. Malaysia’s relation with China has deepened in recent years.
China has done significant investments in Malaysia but Mahathir has said he fears Malaysia could be left over-leveraged on Chinese-linked debt if any of the projects turn awry.
“As you know China has a long experience of dealing with unequal treaties and China dealt with them by renegotiating”. He said Malaysia would renegotiate agreements if it felt they were lopsided.
