It's official: Mahathir Mohamad is prime minister of Malaysia again.

Malaysia's longest-serving premier, he has successfully ousted his protégé-turned-election foe Najib Razak from political leadership, and shown the world that he still has it in him to win elections.

Accompanied by four other leaders from the Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance, the 92-year-old was sworn in on May 10, slightly after 9.30pm at the Istana Negara.

He is Malaysia's seventh prime minister.

He has also become the world's oldest leader.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is expected to be appointed deputy prime minister by Mahathir.

Sworn in as prime minister after unusual delay

The ceremony comes after an unusual delay.

Normally, the prime minister is sworn in the day following the general election.

But this time it was different from normal. It is the first time in Malaysia's modern history that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) has not been elected.

Mahathir had earlier called for a new government to be formed urgently, saying if there is no government, there is no law.

He was first expected to be sworn in at 9.30am, and then 5pm during his audience with Malaysia's constitutional king, but the ceremony failed to take place.

However, the national palace later released a statement at around 9pm and confirmed that Mahathir will be forming a new federal government.

At the same time, it "strongly refutes any allegation" that the king had delayed Mahathir's appointment as prime minister.

But Mahathir is not expected to be in the position for long.

He has previously pledged to seek a royal pardon for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and step aside after he is released from prison on June 8 and is able to stand in office again.

Dominant victory for Mahathir's PH coalition

The PH coalition and its allies won a majority in the May 9 polls with 122 out of 222 seats, defeating the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which won 79 seats.

In addition, traditional government strongholds such as Johor, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka were swept by PH, making it a dominant victory for them, and one that will go down in Malaysian history.

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What's next?

Mahathir's PH coalition has promised to achieve 10 things within the first 100 days in government.

These promises include abolishing the GST, reintroducing fuel subsidies, increasing the minimum wage and abolishing FELDA settlers' debts.

Before winning the elections, Mahathir has also pledged to abolish several "oppressive" laws, such as the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 and the Sedition Act 1948.

As for Najib, who was accused of pocketing money from state fund 1MDB, even though Mahathir swore not to take revenge on the former rulers of the country, he said that Najib will have to "face the consequences" should the law say that he has "done something wrong".

He said:

"We need to study all the things done by the previous government."

Top image via TV3MALAYSIA Official/YouTube