KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian veteran ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad, 92, said he expected to be sworn in as prime minister later Thursday after his stunning election win, adding there was an "urgency" for him to take office.
"We expect today for me to be sworn in as prime minister," he told a press conference, addressing concerns over a delay by saying that some "confusion" over the process had now been cleared up.
"We hope by 5:00 pm (0900 GMT) today we will have a prime minister. Any delay means there is no government. If there is no government there is no law or any institutions."
Mahathir stormed to an unexpected victory early Thursday at the head of an alliance packed with parties that opposed him during his two decades in power, toppling the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
The former strongman came out of retirement to take on his former protege, scandal-hit Prime Minister Najib Razak.