KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been listed among Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2019.

The nonagenarian had led the Pakatan Harapan coalition to unseat Barisan Nasional from Putrajaya in the historic 14th general election last year.

He joined the Leaders list alongside US President Donald Trump, Pope Francis, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

In his profile, Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown described Dr Mahathir as a formidable old warhorse who dazzled during a gruelling (election) campaign.

"You don't have to be young to fight the power.

"Take Mahathir, the former Malaysian prime minister who came out of retirement last year to lambaste his successor Najib Abdul Razak, who is accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the country's 1MDB development fund.

"Now 93, Mohamad has committed to hand over power to the former leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, 71, whom he released from jail days after his victory. For Malaysia, the episode has re-established democracy in a country that almost teetered into totalitarianism," she wrote.

The 100 most influential people put up by Time is a yearly list based on the votes of its readers, which was opened from March 27 until yesterday.