Mahathir Mohamad. (AFP)
Mahathir Mohamad may be at least temporarily out of power, but the 94-year-old leader isn’t going down without a fight.
Mahathir’s abrupt resignation last Monday kicked off a week of horse-trading that saw his fortunes rise and fall by the hour. On Saturday morning, he said he had the numbers to form a government, but by late afternoon the king appointed Muhyiddin Yassin– until recently Mahathir’s right-hand man – as prime minister.
Late Saturday night, Mahathir said he has secured the backing of 114 lawmakers — enough for a majority in Malaysia’s 222-member parliament — and reiterated the figure at a Sunday morning press conference. But some that he named denied they are backing him.
No matter how things shake out, it’s a safe bet Mahathir isn’t going anywhere. While he’s ruled Malaysia for nearly a quarter century over two stints, he was perhaps just as active politically when he was retired as he was inside the prime minister’s office — including helping take down former Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2018.
Already, he is planning a urgent parliament sitting to show that he has the majority support among lawmakers. At the Sunday press conference, he repeatedly blamed Muhyiddin for plotting and orchestrating the events of the past week, and said he felt “betrayed” mostly by him.
“He is not the right prime minister,” Mahathir said of Muhyiddin. “I should have won