Dr.Mahatir Mohamad:in power for two decades

South Asia Analysis Group

Paper no. 304

28. 08. 2001

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad: in power for two decades-An assessment

by C. S. Kuppuswamy

“ If all the contradictions in life and love could be rendered in stone or paint, Mahathir Mohamad would make a fine artist’s model” ---Asiaweek 29 June 2001.

Love him or hate him- You cannot but admire him. Dr.Mahathir Mohamad 75, the longest serving elected Asian leader, completed 20 years as Prime minister of Malaysia on July 16, 2001. Perhaps his greatest achievement has been in the maintenance of political stability in the turbulent eighties and nineties which eventually helped the country’s steady economic growth. Despite his affirmative action policies to bring up the Malays economically, he had maintained a fine balance in the racial relationship of the three main races - Malays, Chinese and the Indians. If Malaysia was the only South East Asian country to weather the 1997 financial crisis without resorting to the IMF route it was only Mahathir’s bold decision to go against mainstream advice. His capital controls proved effective and produced a positive growth to belie the predictions of the financial wizards. Call it the turning point or the beginning of his end, Mahathir surprised and shocked everyone by sacking his anointed successor and Deputy Prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998.

Mahathir the manipulator believed in himself and Malaysia’s destiny: Mahathir had a knack of getting out unscathed in adverse situations and at times even manipulated such situations to his advantage. Despite a vertical split in the Malay votes consequent to the Anwar episode, internal dissensions in his party, dropping his long time colleague Daim Zainudin from the finance minister’s portfolio, he seemed to be going strong and had conveyed to the opposition, though in a lighter vein, that “ they will find it difficult to get rid of him.” On reaching this milestone of 20 years in power, Dr.Mahathir Mohamad remarked “ I think I may have made some mistakes, but I can’t regret the decisions that I have made although they may have been unpopular. I believe I did those for the good of the country.” Some of his decisions (since 1981 till date) which have had an impact on the country are:

1983 Dr. Mahathir planned and arranged to remove the power of royal assent from government legislation.
Privatisation programme launched in 1983 for power, ports, airlines and roads etc., helped to boost the economy till the financial crisis of 1997. However the progamme came under a lot of criticism as it had reportedly favoured the wrong companies with political links resulting in heavy losses.

1987 Three newspapers were charged for provoking racial tensions and suspended from further publication. The Internal Security Act was amended to prevent judicial review of these cases

1988 The constitution was amended to restrict the power of the courts as one element in the separation of powers.
On the advice of Dr. Mahathir , the King sacked Lord president Tun Saleh Abbas for “gross misconduct” and two supreme court judges were also dismissed.

1991 Enunciation of Vision 2020 (of Malaysia) –“ It must be a nation that is fully developed along all dimensions economically, politically, socially,   spiritually, psychologically and culturally.”

1993 He curbed the powers of the royalty further.

1997 The Government decided to take over the controversial Bakun dam project from a private company which cost the government an estimated 7.2 billion ringgit in addition to reimbursing the company for the existing assets.

1998 Dr. Mahathir imposed capital controls and the Malaysian ringgit was pegged at 3.80 to the US Dollar.
Deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim was sacked and arrested under the Internal Security Act. Anwar is presently serving a 15 year jail sentence on charges of corruption and sexual misconduct.

2000 The Government bought back the Malaysian Airlines which was heavily in debt form a Malay tycoon on paying an inflated price.
It was decided that the State Government of Trengannu which is under the rule of the opposition party Pas since Nov. 1999 would no longer receive royalties from Petronas as it had done in the past when it was under UMNO rule (since 1975). The payments will be made to a committee under the Finance ministry for development projects in the state.

2001 Dr. Mahathir parted ways with Daim Zainuddin, his long time friend and finance minister by allowing him to resign . Daim was also the treasurer of UMNO for the last 17 years. Dr.Mahathir took over the portfolio of finance as well.

His Pet Projects: Dr.Mahathir is known for his ambitious projects launched at a heavy cost to the exchequer. Some of these controversial projects have not taken off as per expectations and continue to be a heavy drain on the government funds. Impact of such gigantic projects on the economy is yet to be assessed.

Proton – the national car project (launched in 1983). Japan’s Mitsubushi has a 30% stake in the company. The high import tariffs have protected the Proton till date but sooner or later, the tariff will come down under the ASEAN free trade agreement. To quote opposition leader Chandra Muzaffar “It is his pet project, almost an heirloom that he wants to hand over to the nation as his singular achievement.”

Perwaja Steel -   while referring to this project in an interview published in a Malay language magazine in July 2000 Dr.Mahathir said “ I admit that I made a mistake…… I don’t know why I can’t make it a success.” The national steel project setup in 80s had run into losses of more than $ 760 million upto 1996 and is controlled(81%) by the Federal Government.

Putrajaya – the new capital city, under construction, at 30 km south of the present capital. The estimated cost of the project is 23 billion ringgit ($ 10.6 billion). The new capital is expected to be fully functional by 2012.

The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) - with a high tech township called Cyberjaya as its anchor. The aim was to take the country to the information age. As of now there is little response with less than 100 IT companies moving into Cyberjaya out of a planned 380 companies.

His failure: Dr. Mahathir said that his inability to create a better work ethic among fellow ethnic Malay muslims despite affirmative action policies in their favour has been the biggest failure of his 20 year rule.

His Worst experience: While referring to the 1997 Asian financial crisis he remarked “ In my 20 years as Prime minister that was the worst experience I ever had.” He refused to heed the advice of the International Monetary Fund and introduced capital controls to curb the capital outflows.

His views on Democracy: Malaysia has often been dubbed by the western media as a hard democracy or soft dictatorship. In April 2001 Dr.Mahathir told an audience in Dubai that to avoid the pitfalls of multiparty democracy “some countries must be ruled by dictators.” He mentioned often that the western type of democracy will not help the Asian nations and that a “controlled democracy” is most suited for a nation like Malaysia.

The Challenge (to his leadership): In 1987 Tengku Razaleigh Hamsa , the then finance minister, joined hands with Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam and contested for the party president’s post and gave a scare to Dr. Mahathir. Dr.Mahathir won by a narrow margin of 43 out of the 1479 votes cast. By convention the party (UMNO) president becomes the prime minister. Since then the party rules have been changed considerably to make it difficult to dethrone the incumbent.

What they say (of him):   Some of these quotes will help have an insight into the various facets of his character and his long career

“Dr.Mahathir is prepared to go his own way, along a path that others don’t want to go. That is very brave” – Azman Hashim Exec Chairman Arab Malaysian Banking Group.

“The strength of Mahathir is that he is able to confront the issues head-on” --Hishamuddin Tun Hussein MP.

“The story of Mahathir, his critics say, is that of a man, who built a modern nation but destroyed democracy, who used hope to inspire his countrymen but then resorted to fear” - Thomas Fuller in the International Herald Tribune.

“He (Dr. Mahathir) is driven by a conviction that everything he’s doing is right and for the good of the country” - Lim Kit Siang, Chairman of an opposition party.

“He(Dr.Mahathir) made an error of judgement, several errors of judgement, which I felt were most unfortunate” Lee Kuan Yew former Prime Minister of Singapore while referring to the verdict on Anwar Ibrahim.

“He never learned how to accept dissent. To him dissent is anti government”—Datuk Param Cumaraswamy

His retirement: Since the last general elections in 1999, Dr.Mahathir has been saying that this is going to be his last term in office and the present Deputy PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is being groomed to take over. As of now it is not clear as to whether he really means it because of his conflicting utterances and the manner in which he is carrying on with the party and the government. Abdullah Ahmad, a former deputy minister said “ I have said many times that he will die in office……He is so healthy and has so many things still to do.” Chandra Muzaffar, an opposition leader says “Dr.Mahathir is still in power because of his obsession with power and control and dominance. He can’t let go. He cannot step down.”   Musa Hitam a former Deputy PM goes to the extent of saying that he “ faces a danger of staying on as PM so long”.

Conclusion: Under Mahathir’s leadership, Malaysia which was primarily an agricultural economy, dependent on tin, rubber and palm oil, has developed into one based on technology and knowledge. He may have over extended his executive powers at the cost of institutional checks and balances but he commands the support of the country’s sizeable middle class. Musa Hitam , a former Deputy PM, in an interview to Asiaweek said that “ He (Dr.Mahathir) has accomplished so much in overall development , ideas, instilling confidence and pride in being Malaysian”. Despite advice to go abroad for his heart surgery, Mahathir declared that he has faith in Malaysian surgeons and had his (quadruple bypass) surgery in Malaysia. One should compare it with Indian political leaders who despite the presence of the best surgeons and facilities, go to USA for treatment.

Dr. Mahathir known for his combativeness and a man who has weathered crises such as the aftermath of the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and the Asian financial crisis, is reported to be impatient and frustrated. He is facing dissent from his own party members and is openly accused for the party’s failings and for his over ambitious projects. His efforts to reunite the Malays have not yielded much results till date. For all the apparent momentum building up against him, he seems to be getting emboldened in taking even more drastic steps to consolidate his position. Despite all his failings it is doubtful whether his successor can hold Malaysia in the same pre- eminent   position which Dr. Mahathir managed.

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