(Bloomberg) — Malaysia’s longest serving leader Mahathir Mohamad said he will defend his Langkawi parliamentary seat in the upcoming general election.
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The 97-year-old, who was instrumental in unseating the ruling United Malays National Organisation in the historic 2018 election, said his party had yet to pick a candidate as premier. Still, he remained open to cooperating with other parties that opposed UMNO.
“We haven’t decided on who will be prime minister as it is only relevant if we win,” Mahathir said at a briefing in Putrajaya on Tuesday. Mahathir said that his coalition of Malay parties will contest 120 of the 222 seats up for the grabs in the polls.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament Monday, paving the way for elections this year as UMNO seeks to strengthen its position following a run of successful local polls. A general election must be held within 60 days after parliament is dissolved.
While a national vote isn’t due until September next year, key members of UMNO wanted to hold it early to capitalize on the opposition’s disarray and redeem itself following a shock defeat in 2018 after roughly six decades in power. UMNO returned to the ruling bloc two years later after the collapse of Mahathir’s administration, but has led a fragile coalition since then.
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