Malaysia's Mahathir, 95, to set up new political party

Dr Mahathir said he will be chairman and the party would not be part of the current government or the opposition alliance of which he used to be a member.The ex-premier used to be a member of a party called Bersatu, which he set up to contest the 2018 election, but it split when Dr Mahathir's shaky coalition government collapsed.

The veteran politician was first premier from 1981 to 2003 but then launched a comeback ahead of the polls two years ago, to take on the corruption-mired regime of Najib Razak.But the government collapsed this year amid intense infighting over whether Anwar Ibrahim should become the next premier, and Dr Mahathir resigned.

He sought to come back as prime minister but lost out to Muhyiddin Yassin, who now leads a coalition that includes Najib's scandal-plagued party. Analysts said Dr Mahathir's party would need the support of other parties to stand a chance of success. "Standing alone, he would be lucky to win back his own seat," Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow, from the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, told AFP.For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to

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