On 9 May, Malaysia’s political canvas was redrawn with a single election. By returning the 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad to the job of prime minister, voters ended 61 years of uninterrupted rule by the United Malays National Organisation …

Malaysia is just a few months or even weeks away from its most contentious election in decades. Mahathir Mohamad—Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, whose rule ended in 2003—is, at 92, working with opposition figures he once …