I can feel the energy, excitement and hope among my Malaysian friends. Wish I could be there to share this special and historic moment with you in person. It’s truly remarkable what you’ve achieved. Congratulations! Let’s get this beloved country back on track.

Malaysia modernized, industrialized and flourished under Mahathir’s autocratic rule. His Deputy Prime Minister-turned-opponent, Anwar Ibrahim, was convicted of sodomy and jailed in 1998. Many believe that to be a false accusation. The verdict was finally overturned in 2004. Freed, Anwar Ibrahim started an opposition party called Pakatan Rakyat. It must have been a successful party because he was again charged with sodomy in 2008, and was acquitted in 2012. His acquittal was overturned in 2014. He is serving a five-year sentence.

Corruption & Scandal

Najib Razak became mired in corruption scandals soon after becoming the sixth PM in 2009. He was often exposed for treating the national coffers as his family’s piggy bank. The most serious allegations include the theft of USD $3.5 billion of the people’s money from 1MDB which is a state development fund. You may recall that the PM Najib Razak recently visited the White House. Najib was quite ineffective towards the end of the last parliamentary session. He had been Mahathir’s protege.

In 2016, Mahathir became so fed up with Najib and UMNO members for allowing rampant corruption and race-based politics that he left UMNO and joined Pakatan Rakyat. At the helm of Pakatan Rakyat is none other than Anwar Ibrahim’s wife, Wan Azizah, a trained physician. Mahathir has expressed remorse for what happened to Anwar, and said that if the King pardons Anwar, he will support Anwar in becoming the next Prime Minister. Pakatan Rakyat and its allies are known as Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope). Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy, by the way.

76% Cast Their Ballots

Seventy-six percent (76%) of the 14.3 million eligible voters cast their ballots in this election. On Wednesday, Malaysians stood in long lines from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm waiting to vote. Many were turned away at 5:00 pm even though they’d been in line for hours. Despite gerrymandering, intimidation, outright bribing of voters, delayed mailing of ballots to overseas voters, and other voter suppression tactics, Pakatan Harapan secured the necessary 112 seats to form a new government. It ended up with 121. Barisan Nasional won 79.

At 9:30 pm tonight (the day after Election Day), the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, the 93-year-old Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, was once again sworn in, this time as the seventh Prime Minister. He is the oldest elected leader in the world. Wan Azizah is the Deputy Prime Minister, a post her husband once held.

Hopeful for a New Era

Malaysians are especially proud for having exercised their rights to vote for the government they want, and are hopeful for a new era. After fifteen years of mismanagement, with the most recent nine years plagued by scandal after scandal, no wonder my friend said this feels like achieving independence. Congratulations!