Malaysia's Mahathir makes last election hurrah

Malaysia's 97-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad is back again in the election race as the head of a new ethnic Malay alliance that he calls a "movement of the people." He hopes his bloc could gain enough seats in Saturday's polls to be a powerbroker.

Denounced for being an autocrat during his first 22-year rule until 2003, Mahathir was welcomed as a savior after leading the opposition to oust a long-ruling corruption-stained party in 2018. He became the world's oldest leader at 92 and was to hand over power to his rival-turned-ally Anwar Ibrahim.  

Mahathir, a master tactician, is no stranger to setbacks. He swiftly formed the Pejuang Malay party that now heads a motley bloc known as Gerakan Tanah Air, or Homeland Movement. Mahathir is the last of a generation of old guards in Southeast Asia.