In May 2018, Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad was in the grand ballroom of a Sheraton hotel near Kuala Lumpur, jubilantly announcing his return as prime minister after defeating an alliance that had run the country for 60 years.
Less than two years later, the coalition assembled by the 94-year-old crumbled in the same hotel, as members of his party held meetings with their former opponents that eventually led to his downfall.
Mahathir has shaped Malaysia like no other politician since the Southeast Asian nation became independent, with a 22-year stint as prime minister that started in 1981 and then a second term after his historic return two years ago.
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