Mutual destruction

10 May 2018 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

With a shock election defeat, the outgoing prime minister’s top defence against the $4.5 bln fund scandal has gone. Old enquiries may reopen at home and overseas agencies have less reason to go easy on him. Najib could be tempted into the dangerous politics of mutual destruction.

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Mahathir Mohamad, the leader of the opposition alliance that won Malaysia’s general election, said on May 10 that if the law showed outgoing Prime Minister Najib Razak had done something wrong, then he would have to face the consequences.

An alliance of parties spearheaded by 92-year old Mahathir won Malaysia's general election, official results showed on May 10, setting up the veteran strongman to become prime minister again. He was earlier premier for 22 years.

Official results showed Mahathir's Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) won 113 of parliament's 222 seats, clinching the simple majority required to rule. Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition had 79.

Mahathir was once Najib's mentor but the pair have clashed over a scandal at sovereign fund 1MDB in which billions of dollars were allegedly siphoned off to foreign countries.

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