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| Mahathir Mohamad: Malaysian prime minister in shock resignation | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The Malaysian prime minister, 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, has submitted his resignation to the king. | The Malaysian prime minister, 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, has submitted his resignation to the king. |
| Mr Mahathir's shock resignation comes amid rumours that he may form a new coalition without his designated successor, Anwar Ibrahim. | |
| The world's oldest prime minister came into power in 2018. | The world's oldest prime minister came into power in 2018. |
| In a shock victory, he ousted then-prime minister Najib Razak, who has been linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal involving a government fund. | In a shock victory, he ousted then-prime minister Najib Razak, who has been linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal involving a government fund. |
| The Prime Minister's Office said the letter of resignation was submitted at 13:00 local time (05:00 GMT). No other details were included in the statement. | |
| It is not clear who will be the next prime minister or if new elections will be called. | |
| Mr Mahathir's resignation followed a period of "intense political manoeuvring", said the BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head. | |
| Mr Mahathir has dominated Malaysian politics for decades - he was previously prime minister from 1981 to 2003, and was part of the long-ruling party Barisan Nasional (BN). | |
| Mr Anwar was Mr Mahathir's deputy but the relationship soured when Mr Anwar was sacked in 1998 after a leadership dispute. | |
| He was later jailed on corruption and sodomy charges, which were widely regarded as politically motivated. | |
| But in 2018, Mr Mahathir shocked the country when he announced that he was teaming up with Mr Anwar and joining the opposition alliance - Pakatan Harapan. | |
| He said he was doing so to oust the government of Mr Najib, who had become embroiled in the 1MDB corruption scandal. | |
| Mr Mahathir and Mr Anwar's alliance won - and Mr Mahathir agreed to eventually hand power over to Anwar. | |
| But Mr Mahathir repeatedly refused to say when he would transfer power - stoking tensions within the opposition alliance. |