ISLAMABAD – The opposition “Alliance of Hope”, led by former Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad, won a snap election in Malaysia on May 10, making the92-year-old politician the oldest elected leader in the country’s history.
*1. Strong But Smart Nationalist*
Since the beginning of his political career, Mahathir Mohamad has been astrong proponent of the rights and opportunities of Malays and Malaysia’sindigenous peoples and an opponent of the Chinese in Malaysia. However, hiswork to ensure the prosperity of Malays is not limited to elevating themto preferred positions everywhere in the country.
In his book called the “Malay Dilemma,” he argued that the government mustachieve a balance between supporting Malays, protecting them from beingdominated by the Chinese economically, and exposing them to competition sothat they won’t avoid hard work and would “appreciated the real valueof money and property.”
11 years after he wrote the book, he became a prime minister and beganto implement his vision as part of the New Economic Policy (NEP), whichsupported Malays through affirmative action in corporate ownership anduniversity admission.
When the NEP ended in 1990, Mahathir Mohamad adopted a new policy — Vision2020, which suggested breaking down ethnic barriers in Malaysia. From thatmoment, government support programs were gradually opened up forethnicities other than Malays and the indigenous population.
*2. From Protection of Freedoms to Crackdown on Dissidents*
One of the first moves Mahathir Mohamad did as prime minister wasto release 21 detainees held under the Internal Security Act for politicalreasons. He also managed to pass constitutional amendments stripping theMalaysian royalty of some of its powers and passing them to the PM andparliament employing a smart PR campaign.
Mahathir Mohamad was nonetheless remembered for his attacks on politicalopponents at the end of his last premiership. During protests broughtabout by the appointment of administrators who did not speak Mandarinto Chinese schools, some 119 demonstrators were arrested and heldin detention under the same Internal Security Act. The prime ministerhimself justified the arrests as a preventive measure so the bloody 1969race riots wouldn’t repeat in the country.
*3. Controversy over Academic Freedoms*
Another controversial move that Mahathir Mohamad, one that he made priorto his first premiership while he was serving as the minister of education,was an increase in governmental control over universities. For instance,politics and political education were removed from all campuses andconducted under the supervision of his ministry. It was no longer mandatoryand only politically active students participated.
*4. Economic Miracle Despite All Odds*
When the financial crisis struck Asia in 1997 it could have devastatedMalaysia’s economy. The national currency ringgit was in desperatenosedive, foreign capital fled. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)strongly advised that Mahathir limited governmental spending and raisedinterest rates, but that move didn’t reach its goal.
In 1998, ignoring all IMF and even his own cabinet advisers’recommendations, he increased the spending and fixed the nationalcurrency’s value to the US dollar. To the great astonishment of the IMF,his move worked and Malaysia recovered faster than most of its neighbors.
*5. Proud Anti-Semite*
Even after retirement he continued to make controversial statements. Oneof the most notorious was in reference to Israel:
“I am glad to be labeled anti-Semitic […] How can I be otherwise, when theJews who so often talk of the horrors they suffered during the Holocaustshow the same Nazi cruelty and hard-heartedness towards not just theirenemies but even towards their allies should any[one] try to stop thesenseless killing of their Palestinian enemies,” he said in 2012.
He even established the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission in orderto investigate not only Israel’s, but also US’ and its allies’ activitiesin various Arab countries, such as Iraq and Lebanon. – Sputnik