The election of Mahathir Mohamad as new prime minister of Malaysia is likely to set things in motion in the 1MDB corruption case. Something that will have an impact on the Swiss capital of Bern.

Mahathir Mohamad’s victory on Wednesday in Malaysia came as a surprise: the 92-year-old former prime minister may have offered his fellow citizens a new start and promised to come down hard on the corruption of the deposed Najib Razak. Few believed however that his quest for power would succeed.

The victory of the Pakatan Harapan coalition was the first ever of an opposition grouping in the 60 years following the country’s independence from the British colonial rulers. And a clear sign that people were deeply disenchanted about the ruling party’s handling of the corrupt practices.

Swiss Interests Affected

The ousting of Razak and his Barisan Nasional party will also affect Switzerland. Mahathir has a list of ten points he aims to follow up on in the first 100 days of office. One is the setting up of a royal commission to investigate the 1MDB corruption case.

Hundreds of millions of dollars from the state fund of Malaysia have reappeared on accounts that have nothing at all to do with the fund’s purpose. For instance, investigators found that $681 million were moved to accounts of the fallen prime minister.

Independent Investigations

During the tenure of Razak, the authorities of Malaysia stalled on the case that was likely to imply its top politician, while Singapore, the U.S. and Switzerland investigated the case and the dealings of involved banks. In Switzerland the government shuttered Banca della Svizzera Italiana (BSI) as a consequence.

The attorney general of Switzerland froze 95 million Swiss francs in assets, money that belongs to the people of Malaysia, according to Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fonds. But as the government of Malaysia refused to cooperate, Switzerland simply couldn’t return the money to the rightful owners yet.

Swift Action Required

This is likely to change quickly. Mahathir said shortly after his election: «We believe that we can get most of the 1MDB money back.»

The Swiss authorities have repeatedly shown that they can act swiftly in such cases if foreign governments do their bit. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t apply to the current case.