The country's longest-serving premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad suffered a crushing defeat in Langkawi where he finished fourth in a five-cornered fight.

In a shocking loss, the seat was won by Perikatan Nasional's Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah by 13,518, according to the Election Commission.

Langkawi was known to be the veteran politician’s pet project when he was prime minister, heavily investing in the island and turning it into an international tourism destination.

At 97, it is surely the Pejuang chairperson’s last electoral contest, with him previously saying this when announcing his candidacy in October:

“I won’t be around for GE16.”

His son Mukhriz suffered a similar fate. The former Kedah menteri besar lost the parliamentary seat of Jerlun, where he had been serving since 2018 after PN won the seat yesterday with a 20,456-vote majority.

Mahathir's one-time nemesis Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah saw his long reign of 48 years as Gua Musang MP come crashing down.

Unlike the whopping defeat of Pejuang giants Mahathir and son, victory slipped through Tengku Razaleigh’s fingers as the PN candidate Mohd Azizi Abu Naim won by a razor-thin 163-vote majority.

Proarte : Yes, the results are disappointing but they are a reflection of the division in our society along race and religion. BN, for 60 years divided us by operating on a " Ketuanan Melayu" and "Ketuanan Islam" modus operandi.

In turn, the representatives of the Chinese and Indians namely MCA and MIC respectively, betrayed them by allowing their rights as citizens to be eroded because they prostituted themselves to the UMNO agenda. Sadly, the non-Malays had begun to accept their 2nd class status as a fait accompli following May 13,1969 politically engineered riots.

The NEP instituted widespread changes which saw discrimination against them increasingly exponentially. Naturally, Malaysia no longer inculcated a sense of love and loyalty despite non-Malays contributing hugely to the development of this country be it culturally, to its unique cuisine, to its language, educationally and economically.

In fact, 90% of the taxes in the country are paid by non-Malays, mainly by the Chinese. The ruling elite Malays abused the supposed good intentions of the NEP to unjustly enrich themselves and destroy race relations. Approaching 2 million non-Malays have left Malaysia seeking a more dignified life and to achieve their dreams unhindered.

They have made success of their lives and have contributed to the development of countries like Singapore, Australia, UK and USA, to our great loss which is self inflicted. The consequences of bad governance which the NEP engendered has turned Malaysia from a potential "Asian Tiger" into a Kleptocracy heading towards a failed state.

GE-15 offered us hope for a gradual reset to a modern democracy but the long entrenched dark forces of greed, racism, religious bigotry continue to hold us back and our future remains uncertain. Such a tragedy for a potentially great nation formed by a historical confluence of races, cultures and religions.

I hope Anwar and his PH partners will try their utmost to form a stable government comprising the Borneo Bloc and even Ismail Sabri's BN if Realpolitik dictates. A definite NO to doing deals with Zahid Hamidi, PAS and Bersatu because they represent Kleptocracy, Islamic extremism and racism.