Mahathir Mohamad is on course to
become the world's oldest elected leader at 92, after a shock victory in
Malaysia's bitterly fought election.
His historic win has ousted the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which has been in power since independence in 1957.
Jubilant Mahathir supporters filled the streets as the victory became clear.
Mr Najib has said he will "accept the verdict of the people", but correspondents say a smooth transition to power is not a given after such a major political upheaval.
No single party within the coalition won a majority, so technically it now rests with Malaysia's king to decide who forms a government.
The official results showed the opposition Pakatan Harapan - the Alliance of Hope - secured 113 of the 222 seats being contested, including some which have only ever been held by the government. BN took 79 seats.
Note
Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister, at the head of the BN coalition, for 22 years, from 1981 until he stepped down in 2003.
Under his leadership, Malaysia became one of the Asian tigers - the group of countries which saw their economies expand rapidly in the 1990s. But he was an authoritarian figure who used controversial security laws to lock up his political opponents.
Most infamously his deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, was sacked and accused of corruption and sodomy - and later jailed on the latter charge - when he called for economic and political reforms.
Mahathir Mohamad was also a mentor to Najib Razak, who became prime minister in 2008.
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