[UPDATED] 97-year-old Mahathir confirms will defend Langkawi

KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has put to rest any speculation pertaining to his candidacy in the upcoming general election after he announced his decision to defend his Langkawi seat at the age of 97 years. 

The Pejuang chairman, however, said questions over whether he will stand as prime minister again is not relevant at the moment, unless his party and new coalition Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) secure a win in the coming polls. 

“We have decided that in Langkawi, the candidate will be Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – not as a candidate for prime minister, but as an MP,” he said during a press conference after chairing a GTA meeting in Putrajaya today. 

“We haven’t decided who will be prime minister yet, because this will only be relevant if we win the election. If we lose, then this question is irrelevant.”

Mahathir won the Langkawi seat in the 2018 election after making a comeback following his previous retirement from active politics. 

He went on to lead his then party Bersatu and the Pakatan (PH) coalition to a victory before being appointed as prime minister for the second time.

Mahathir, who was born on December 20, 1925, was already the oldest prime minister when he was appointed to the post on May 10, 2018, at the age of 92 years and 141 days. 

In the presser, Mahathir also announced GTA's decision to run under his party Pejuang’s logo for the election, after the coalition failed to officially register itself with the Registrar of Societies in time for the polls. 

The only exception will be in Kelantan, he said, where the logo of a fellow component member, Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra), will be used instead, citing “certain reasons”. 

Separately, the Langkawi lawmaker announced that GTA will be placing at least 120 candidates in the coming election, including possibly in Sabah. 

Asked what strategies will be implemented this time to avoid a potential wipeout in a similar vein witnessed in the Johor election, where Pejuang candidates lost their deposits in all 42 seats, Mahathir expressed confidence that there will not be a repeat of this. 

“In Johor, there was no GTA. At the time, Pejuang was not well known among the rakyat. Now, we have been able to educate the people more about the party. 

“They (voters) realise that Pejuang is part of GTA, but that we will contest under the Pejuang banner because the government had purposely delayed the approval of our application to register GTA,” he said. 

Separately, Mahathir warned that allowing Umno and Barisan Nasional to return to federal power will likely lead to a situation where convicted Datuk Seri Najib Razak might be accorded a royal pardon. 

Similarly, he predicts other corruption cases involving top Umno leaders, including president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, will be dropped. 

“If they win and form the government, that is their first objective. It’s not the welfare of the public, not the floods,” he said. – The Vibes, October 11, 2022