Mahathir Loses Seat In M’sia General Election, His 1st Electoral Defeat For 53 Years

M’sia’s Ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad Loses Parliamentary Seat In General Election, Also Loses Deposit

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is undoubtedly a towering figure in his country.

That’s because he’s Malaysia’s longest-serving PM and still active in politics at the grand old age of 97.

However, his time in prominence may be coming to an end — he has lost his seat in Parliament during the General Election.

This is the first time in 53 years that Tun Mahathir has lost an election.

Mahathir loses seat in Langkawi

After voting ended on Saturday (19 Nov) —  Polling Day in Malaysia’s 15th General Election — a remarkable result emerged in the constituency of Langkawi.

The incumbent MP, Dr Mahathir, failed to retain his seat, reported Reuters.

That means he will not be part of the next Malaysian Parliament.

It may also put an end to his political career.

Mahathir finishes fourth in five-way race

More humiliatingly, the former PM finished a distant fourth among five candidates running for Langkawi.

He got 4,566 votes — or just 9.6% of the vote share.

Winner Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, from Perikatan Nasional (PN), received 53.6%.

Mahathir loses election deposit with seat

Unfortunately, Dr Mahathir’s underwhelming performance also means he loses his election deposit.

Only candidates with more than 12.5% of the vote share will get back their deposit.

The loss comes despite his winning with 54.9% of votes in the same constituency in the 2018 election.

Langkawi is also situated in his home state of Kedah, making the result especially hard to bear.

Mahathir was willing to be third-time PM

Dr Mahathir was running under his party Pejuang, which he founded in 2020.

In June, he said he was open to standing in Langkawi again at the next GE, reported the Malay Mail.

At a forum in September, he said he was willing to become Malaysian PM for a third time if there was insistence from the public.

Now, however, it seems that possibility is off the table.

Dr Mahathir had previously told Reuters in an interview that he would retire from politics following a loss.

First election defeat in 53 years

Remarkably, this is Dr Mahathir’s first election loss in 53 years.

The last time he tasted defeat in an election was in 1969, when he lost the Kota Setar seat in Kedah.

Of course, he bounced back from that setback and became Malaysian PM for the first time in 1981.

He lasted an astonishing 22 years in that position, stepping down only in 2003.

Mahathir became second-time PM in 2018

Dr Mahathir memorably became PM for the 2nd time after GE2018 when he led the Pakatan Harapan coalition to victory and formed a new Malaysian government.

However, he resigned less than two years later in 2020, throwing the government into disarray and paving the way for long-time ruling party Umno to make a comeback.

Vote counting for the Malaysian General Election is still ongoing — it’s predicted to be the closest race in Malaysia’s election history.

As it stands, the country appears to be heading towards a hung Parliament — that means no coalition has enough seats (at least 112) to form the government.

However, at least one battle-hardened political warrior will not be in the running any more.

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Featured image adapted from Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad on Facebook.