Malaysia’s opposition alliance has named a 92-year-old former premier, Mahathir Mohamad, as its prime ministerial candidate for the general elections to be held later this year, Reuters reported.

Mohamad had stepped down as prime minister in 2003 after holding the post for 22 years, BBC reported. Over the past few years, his vocal opposition to current Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is engulfed in a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal, has brought him back into the limelight.

The Opposition announced he would lead their campaign as the country’s most popular opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is in jail. Ibrahim was Mohamad’s deputy but was sacked in 1998 over political differences. He was jailed six years later on corruption charges. He had denied them, and called them politically motivated.

However, the two former political enemies have now come together to beat Razak. If the opposition wins, the parties said they will ask for a royal pardon for Ibrahim so that he is eligible to become the prime minister.