PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc congratulates Malaysian counterpart

ABO/VNA – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 10 sent a message of congratulations to new Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (Source: Kyodo/VNA).

Mahathir Mohamad was officially sworn in as Prime Minister of Malaysia on May 10 after a shock election victory, 15 years after he stood down. The 92-year-old Mahathir, who had governed for more than two decades, became the world's oldest elected leader.

He came out of retirement and defected to the opposition to take on and beat former protege Najib Razak. His historic win ousted the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which has been in power since independence in 1957.

Official results showed that Mahathir's Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) had won 113 of the parliament's 222 seats, exceeding the simple majority required to rule.

Meanwhile, the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional headed by former Prime Minister Najib Razak won only 79 seats.

Mahathir disclosed that he plans to appoint Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, President of the People’s Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat -PKR), as Deputy Prime Minister, making her the first female Deputy PM of Malaysia.

Mahathir served as Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003.

(Source: VNA)