On May 9 Malaysians went to the polls expecting the re-election of incumbent Najib Razakand and the continuation of his Barisan Nasional party’s 61 year rule.

Instead Mahathir Mohammad with the help of long-time political enemy Anwar Ibrahmin surprised political orthodoxy and successfully won the election.

Erin Cook - a Jakarta based free-lance journalist specialising in South East Asia joined us on Pod on the Hill to discuss how and why it happened and the ramifications for the region and Australia.