Malaysia's Najib concedes but uncertainty looms

The 92-year-old Mahathir, who appears to have ended 61 years of one-party rule in Malaysia, declared, "we need to have this government today, without delay, there is a lot of work to be done with all the mess this country is in".

Flanked by the leaders of other leaders of the opposition coalition including Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Mahathir said the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition of parties had secured  more than 135 members in the 222 member parliament and "there can be no doubt about who gets majority support in the new Malaysia".

However, right now there was no government in Malaysia, he said.

Earlier on Thursday, in a sign that Najib may attempt to try to strike deals with minor parties within Mahathir's coalition to hang on to power, the outgoing prime minister pointed out that no single party could claim a simple majority.

Instead, he said, Malaysia's king would decide who the next prime minister would be.

"I and my colleagues accept the verdict of the people," he said.

Responding to Najib's comments, Mahathir said his opponent had made a gracious concession speech but had not conceded the opposition had won.

"If the government is not appointed immediately, the country will be without a government. The first thing that needs to be done is appoint a prime minister. This is the role of the king”.

The prime minister-elect also repeated that the opposition was not seeking "revenge" on Najib.

However, referring to the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal that has dogged the outgoing prime minister for years, Mahathir said, "the rule of law will be fully implemented ... if the law says Najib has done something wrong than he will have to pay the consequences”.

It is not clear when the opposition, led by Mahathir, will be sworn in as prime minister. He demanded that it happen by 5pm Malaysian time (7pm AEST) on Thursday, formally ending six decades of one-party rule in Malaysia.

Najib said the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) "will honour the principle of democracy in the parliament", adding that, "I urge all Malaysians to be calm and to trust the king's wisdom to make the best choice."

Najib's comments will stoke fears among Malaysians that the ruling party may be unwilling to let go of its hold on power.

The opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition parties can claim a majority of parliamentary seats, but Mahathir said other smaller parties have also pledged their support for the opposition.

No single member of the opposition coalition won a simple majority. Dr Wan Azizah's PKR (Justice) party won the largest number of seats, 104, within the PH coalition. She is the wife of jailed former opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim.

Mahathir's looming return to the prime ministership caps a remarkable series of events in Malaysia.

The result has dumbfounded most analysts and turned the country’s political system on its head as after decades of one-party rule, the Muslim-majority nation delivered a resounding vote for change.

Mahathir's return to power was preceded by this decision to come out of retirement and teaming up with Anwar Ibrahim - who served as his deputy prime minister in the 1990s, before the pair fell out spectacularly and Anwar was jailed on trumped-up sodomy charges.

The prime minister-elect has promised to stand aside for Anwar (who is serving the final days of a jail term on specious sodomy charges) to become prime minister.

More importantly, seeking a royal pardon for Anwar would be one of the first things the new government did, he said.

In the early hours of Thursday morning after the declaration of the results, Malaysians took the streets of Kuala Lumpur, car horns blaring and flags waving as the nation of 31 million people celebrated a historic victory.

A GST imposed by Najib was widely cited by many Malaysians Fairfax Media spoke to for the unpopularity of the Barisan Nasional government.

Some also raised questions over the hugely expensive East Coast Rail Link, a 55 billion Ringgit ($19 billion) project largely funded by China as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

Mahathir said again the incoming government wanted to review that project, but that he did not oppose Belt and Road in-principle.

For the outgoing prime minister Najib, Mahathir's comments about the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund scandal raise the prospect of legal difficulties ahead.

As much as $US4 billion has allegedly been misappropriated from the fund in the scandal and the United States, Swiss and Singaporean governments are among those investigating.

Najib has always denied allegations of corruption from the US Department of Justice over the transfer of $US681 million into his personal account from the fund as part of the scandal.

The country's former Attorney-General had cleared him of any wrongdoing, claiming the money was a gift from Saudi Arabia's royal family and that most of it was returned.

Many Malaysians want Najib prosecuted and jailed over the matter.

Mahathir's deputy Wan Azizah - soon to be the deputy prime minister - told Fairfax Media the opposition had hoped for a hung parliament.