Malaysian opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad declared victory in a historic general election for the country on Wednesday, marking a sensational political comeback for the veteran south-east Asian leader despite no official announcement yet from the official election watchdog.
As unofficial counts continued to trickle in from Malaysia’s 222 parliamentary seats, Mr Mahathir, 92, convened a press conference and said he believed that his Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) coalition had won more seats than the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) grouping led by prime minister Najib Razak, 64.
In the early hours of Thursday morning Mr Mahathir held another press conference declaring victory and announced national holidays on Thursday and Friday.