prime minister mahathir mohamad, welcome to hardtalk. thank you.raordinary return to power in may for you, after 15 years of retirement. what made you want to return to government? people came to me frequently, groups of people, asking me to please do something about a government which they found not the kind of usual government. it is very oppressive, it's very corrupt. so you have got this big corruption case against the former prime minister, najib razak, in connection with 1mdb, the state's sovereign fund. $680 million missing. he says he was given that by the saudi royal family and that he has done nothing wrong. when there was a case against him when he was prime minister he was cleared of all charges. you seem to think he is already guilty. well, he said that he got it free from saudi, but nobody gives that amount of money to anybody in the history of the world. how do you know? well, i have never read of anybody getting that kind of money. have you asked the saudis whether they did or not? well, the saudis if they have given him money when

she talks to malaysia's prime minister, mahathir mohamad. some people might find opinions expressed toward the end of the interview offensive. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. my guest today is the oldest head of government in the world. malaysia's prime minister, mahathir mohamad, came back to office in may after a shock election victory against his own former ruling coalition. the country has been mired in allegations of corruption swirling around the previous government, which has dented confidence at home and abroad. first time around, mahathir was prime minister for more than 20 consecutive years until 2003. can he leave his own chequered past behind and lead malaysia to a brighter future? prime minister mahathir mohamad, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. extraordinary return to power in may for you, after 15 years of retirement, what made you want to return to government? people came to me frequently, groups of people, asking me to please do something about a government which they found not the kind of usual government. it is

thousand and fifteen sodomy conviction which he claims was politically motivated prime minister mahathir mohamad has designated him bring him as his successor. kensington palace says prince harry and his wife the duchess sussex ours expecting their first baby come spring now spent comes as harry and megan arrived in sydney at the start of a sixteen day trip to australia and the pacific region. well it's to south america and spain now more than three million people and people have fled venezuela as that country's economic and political crisis deepens most had for neighboring colombia and brazil but thousands of also applied for political asylum in the e.u. mainly in spain but as the w.'s follow foley ileus reports from madrid most of those applications are rejected. this is a media he's made his whalen and seeking asylum in spain earlier this year and mido fled his home country and arrived in madrid. he told us his story. as it was. ordered by the thai suffered political pacification for munching for protesting for being in complete opposition to what's happening at the moment i was threatened ha

system he's talking about dismantling was built by him listening post flo phillips now on what mahathir mohamadange of tune might mean for the malaysian media. matin mohammed the seventh prime minister of malaysia was in the senate. and his first stint from one thousand and two one to two thousand and three he came to reputation as an autocrat. this time around as he vowed in his campaign video things will be different in my view sure that he's not the old and i think he's constantly reminded of the fact that he had this twenty two years. he is the man of the moment he's very popular he is not someone who can do no wrong he's clean and predictable. what is important is that we would judge him by his action. not many people start a new job or change their politics at age ninety three had to but he left his own party to leave the opposition partnering with a man that he'd put in prison. and made freedom of expression a big part of his election campaign this is the same man that the committee to protect journalists branded and me of the press back in one thousand not. the most notorious thing that

feeling against it it was partly this feeling of anger that helped propel ninety three year old mahathir mohamad himself or former prime minister and opposition politician back into office following a general election in may since taking power there has reopened investigations into one and d.b. but not yet says the charges against him are part of a political vendetta you must realize that this current government you know when they were running for office they had already. made this political narrative. that they were going to take action against me not to men taint he's done nothing wrong and has pleaded not guilty to all charges his trial is due to begin in february not yet has said that the trial will afford him an opportunity to clear his name florence louis al-jazeera kuala lumpur. watch marion's ali's full interview with on one o one east alasia speaks first airing on saturday at three thirty g.m.t. here on al-jazeera. and still ahead on al-jazeera the front runner in brazil's presidential election is still far ahead of us and if there is some bad news for him and reopened for business a po

she talks to malaysia's prime minister, mahathir mohamad —

thousand and fifteen sodomy conviction which he claims was politically motivated prime minister mahathir mohamad has designated for him as his successor. british and a unit goshi agers say they have not been able to seal a break the deal ahead of an e.u. summit this week despite a flurry of unscheduled meetings on sunday the e.u. chief negotiator michel tweeted that key issues were still open in particular the need to avoid a hard border between the u.k.'s northern ireland and the irish republic. kensington palace says prince harry and his wife the duchess of sussex are expecting their first baby in spring the announcement comes as harry and megan arrived in sydney at the start of a sixteen day trip to australia and the pacific region. as fighting in many parts of syria eases the country's neighbors have begun easing border restrictions israel says it will allow u.n. forces to cross jordan on monday jordan reopened its main crossing to civilians for the first time in three years syrian government troops return to their side of the checkpoint in july the move restores a commercial lifeline to syr

witness the satisfied with the answers and again what does all of this mean for prime minister mahathir mohamad as he fulfill it has promise on cracking down on corruption you know one of the implications here for malaysian politics. where the ruling party should rule took power due to a dear strong criticism of the broad wrongdoings the election or wrongdoings of previous administration and no indeed there to feel good the promise of for example it's morally oppen lee and family investigating the series of cases and prosecuting those who they failed. responsible for this money disappearance you know what that is a son are joining us as life on the singapore thank you very much for your time thank you thank you. to the u.s. now with the senate as to hold a vote on friday to stop the confirmation procedure for president trump supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh he has been facing allegations of sexual assault and misconduct which he denies ellen fisher has more from washington d.c. . ok let me explain what has happened and what is likely to happen essentially mitch mcconnell the leader of the

feeling against it it was partly this feeling of anger that helped propel ninety three year old mahathir mohamad himself or former prime minister opposition politician back into office following a general election in may since taking power there has reopened investigations into one and. but not yet says the charges against him are part of a political vendetta you must realize that this current government you know when they were running for office they had already. made this political narrative. that they were going to take action against me not to present maintains he's done nothing wrong and has pleaded not guilty to all charges his trial is due to begin in february not yet has said that the trial will afford him an opportunity to clear his name florence lee al-jazeera. this is al jazeera let's go around now of our top stories turkish prosecutors are demanding the extradition of eighteen saudis accused of killing jamal so his president says they should face justice in turkey he called official saudi explanations comical and childish. fiance is given a first television interview more than three

feelings against it it was partly this feeling of anger that helped propel ninety three year old mahathir mohamad himself or former prime minister opposition politician back into office following a general election in may since taking power there has reopened investigations into one and. but not yet says the charges against him are part of a political vendetta you must realize that this current government you know when they were running for office they had already. made this political narrative. that they were going to take action against me not. done nothing wrong and has pleaded not guilty to all charges this trial is due to begin in february. has said that the trial will afford him an opportunity to clear his name florence. it is good to have you with us hello adrian filling in here and main news on al jazeera this hour the saudi foreign minister says the suspects in the jamal. will not be sent to turkey to be prosecuted and had requested for the extradition of the eighteen men. described the response to the killing as hysterical. on the. individuals who saudi nationals to detain. and they wil

a dramatic turnaround for him who was jailed for five years for sodomy he was released when mahathir mohamad was again elected prime minister and made its they settled the long running feud the world's oldest leader ninety three the promise to hand over power to anwar within two years. north and south korea have held more high level talks aimed at settling their differences and military leaders will meet soon to discuss reducing tensions on the heavily fortified border agreements been reached to connect roads and railways of the red cross is arranging video conferences between family members separated by the korean war. at least five people have been killed after heavy rain and flooding hit parts of southwestern france the french area of all wood was particularly badly hit with a river that reached levels not seen it over a century a local governor says the equivalent of several months of rain fell in the space of just a few hours some of those killed were washed away by floodwater it was too powerful for emergency services to get through. it is good to have you with us hello adrian figure h

comeback for a man convicted of sodomy and corruption twice during a power struggle with promise to mahathir mohamad abraham was eventually pardoned and formed a new opposition alliance with mahathir and together they struck a deal saw it brought him to become the next prime minister went on whatever hymns political career has been turbulent has fought started in the line nine hundred ninety s. when he was deputy to the home of they fell out of the malaysia's response to the asian financial crisis in line nine hundred ninety seven abraham was eventually sacked and jailed on charges of sodomy and corruption he was freed in two thousand and four only to be jailed again and twenty fifteen has always maintained the accusations were politically motivated earlier this year once his enemy and now his. mother has secured a royal pardon for him but abraham so sean is the executive director of the baker center for opinion research and he says despite his victory on faces other challenges. i think for the most part mr unaware is here to preside over a reform agenda the coalition that he's led together with for

feeling against it it was partly this feeling of anger that helped propel ninety three year old mahathir mohamad himself or former prime minister opposition politician back into office following a general election in may since taking power there has reopened investigations into one and d. b. but not yet says the charges against him are part of a political vendetta you must realize that this current government you know when they were running for office they had already. made this political narrative. that they were going to take action against me not your president taint he's done nothing wrong and has pleaded not guilty to all charges his trial is due to begin in february not yet has said that the trial will afford him an opportunity to clear his name florence slowly al-jazeera. polls have closed in afghanistan's kandahar province after parliamentary elections were pushed back by a week delay came after a high level afghan general was killed in a taliban attack just a day before the polls were due to open. the latest they've been waiting for the stay for more than three years and under tight sec

and politically is this a good thing for prime minister mahathir mohamad i mean he promised didn't he before the election that he would come down on corruption and jail najib yes this movie is actually a very low on the asian population it's also widely. it made it very clear before the elections that you were trying to not get any on that one and it's all really people who spend. any slack to go to jail are these i'm so who else is mahathir and the anti corruption agency likely to go after next then well the big story of course is that they're trying very hard hold that mass m i am one thing to be fair and this is a character man and then you'll all last suggest they say i think in china so i guess you get hold of i think what are. you but in terms of the people surrounding not your server other was of benefit of one and one and you money from. the east that sun we thought it received some funny one in. just a final thought from a professor in terms of the broader picture is rosmah or not she would like to be charged the malays at without the involvement of international jurisdiction

parliament it's dramatic turnaround while he was released from prison by current prime minister mahathir mohamad following may's election after they'd set aside a bitter feud was convicted of sodomy and jailed after a power struggle between the pair. who is the world's oldest leader has promised to hand over power within two years north and south korea have held high level talks aimed at finding ways to carry out the peace agreements announced during the summit last month for the military talks will also be held soon to discuss reducing military tension on the border between the two others the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after inside story next. as it breaks her security officials to they were treating disappearance as a murder investigation. details coverage the area here was the preschool people thought it would be a safe place to run to the ground beneath them and swallow them up from around the wild the local government has been trying to clean up to revive the more humane calm the more dangerous to the cons to those who need a rounded. so to take a dog business leader an

the way for him to take over as leader in two years and deal with the current prime minister mahathir mohamad chatah should take reports. and leader in waiting the feeling on what uber hands return to frontline politics. back on harappan or the alliance of hope the ruling coalition taking fifty one percent of ballots. this by election victory in a town just south of the capitol represents much more than a local color. is. what. it is it was the may general elections in which on was photo and. a homage swept to power the two men had been enemies for two decades after mahatma imprisoned his former deputy on the sodomy charges but they joined forces to oust the previous ruling coalition. in the weeks after their victory after being jailed a second time on charges of sodomy on while was granted a full pardon and the man who put him back in prison former prime minister najib razak is standing trial for corruption the many of those costing ballots in port dickson today their vote was for a new clean and malaysia with this man as their leader. in the world i hope anwar wins because i have long suppo

turnaround and we're able him it was jailed for five years for sort of me he was released when mahathir mohamad returned to office in may the two have settled their long running feud about how to who's ninety three has promised to hand over power within two years flooding has killed at least thirteen people in the southwest of the province of ord was particularly drenched with the equivalent of several months of rainfall in just a few hours some river levels rose to the highest in more than one hundred years powerful floods swept some casualties that cut off emergency services. ukraine's foreign minister has condemned a nationalist website for publishing the postal details more than five hundred people who it claims of obtained one carrion passports deal citizenship is illegal in ukraine which is expelled the diplomats in a standoff with hungary over the issue under summons reports it's a long way from ukraine's fighting but this small border town is having an identity crisis it spreads well beyond the hillside bearing both hungary and ukrainian flags . many of the people here live with a secre