Mahathir - beneficient or ogre extraordinaire

Hate him or love him, Mahathir Mohamad has had a monumental impact on Malaysian history. Mahathir was instrumental in turning Malaysia from a backwater nation into an international player.

Respected and feared, admired and hated - in his time Tun Mahathir is certainly a character unique unto himself. And it is this larger-than-life figure of a leader that we will remember, both for the good and the bad.

Having spent 22 years in office at the time of his retirement, the 85-year old Mahathir is Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister. Inherently stubborn to a fault, he is also intelligent, persistent and un-afraid to take anyone to task.

In 1969, he publicly criticised Tunku Abdul Rahman’s government for failing to safe-guard Malay interest. He was promptly sacked from the UMNO Supreme Council, expelled, and Abdul Rahman had to be persuaded not to have him arrested.

He continued his attacks on Tunku’s government until the former premier’s resignation in 1970, with Tun Abdul Razak Hussain - the father of current premier Najib Razak - taking over.

By 1973 Mahathir was back in the UMNO Supreme Council and by 1974 he was appointed the Minister of Education. It was during his tenure as Minister of Education that he introduce greater government control over Malaysian institutions, a measure greatly criticised by the academic community.

In 1975, he contested one of the three vice presidencies of UMNO and was eventually being appointed, much to every-one's surprise including himself, the Deputy Prime Minister.

In 1978, he was made Minister of Trade and Industry in which he implemented his “heavy industries policy” that brought about the creation of HICOM - a government controlled corporation. During this period as Deputy Prime Minister, his relationship with Hussein Onn - the Prime Minister and father of current Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was cordial. Hussein was courteous but cautious and rejected many of Mahathir’s bold policies. It was during this time that a measure of rivalry between Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh germinated because Hussein favoured Razaleigh over Mahathir.

Once PM, Dr M showed his iron hand

In spite of all the rivalry within UMNO, Mahathir was sworn in as Prime Minister on July 16, 1981, succeeding Hussein who relinquished his post due to poor health.

In his tenure as prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir continued his bold moves. He was a working prime minister, given over to getting the job done and willing to go head to head with whomsoever he felt was needed or could be an obstacle.

In 1983, he took on Malaysia’s royalty, the first of many landmark steps. He stepped forward to introduce amendments to the constitution that would limit the Agong’s authority over Parliament. The Agong would have to give assent to a bill within 15 days of being passed by Parliament and most importantly the amendments would also transfer from the Agong to the prime minister the power to declare a state of emergency.

The Agong initially refused supported by the Sultans, conservative UMNO politicians, and sections of the Malay and Chinese populace. But Mahathir had the press on his side and organised mass rallies to show that public support was behind him.

After five months, the two sides reached a compromise with the power to declare emergency still in the Agong’s hands but if a bill was not assented to by the Agong, the bill would be returned to Parliament which meant that Parliament could over-ride the Agong’s veto.

In 1987, an internal conflict within UMNO was used as a means to curtail judiciary. Mahathir introduced amendments to the constitution to remove general power from the High Court to conduct judicial review. The courts could not conduct such reviews unless instructed by Parliament. This was the foundation for the dismissal of The Lord President of the Supreme Courts - Salleh Abas and 5 other judges.

The incident that set off the amendments that limited the power of the judiciary? The fear that Tengku Razaleigh, who was leading Team B in an UMNO tussle against him, would be successful in appealing their case for registering UMNO Baru.

UMNO Baru was a replacement for UMNO which was de-registered in February 1988 by the High Courts. Mahathir had registered UMNO Baru and forced Tengku Razaleigh to register a new party called Semangat 46.

Malaysia became a 'totalitarian' state

Mahathir's hold on power within UMNO was complete. Here is a person driven not just by money but a need to retain his authority over all that transpired around him. To maintain control and he held control over his courts and his opponents through an array of 'legal weapons'.

First was the use of the Internal Security Act to detain opponents to the government. It was greatly criticised by other world governments especially when it was used to detain members of the Malaysian opposition parties.

The subjugation of freedom of speech to the extent any form of criticism against the government could land one in prison under the guise of sedition, and punishable under the Sedition Act.

And though Malaysia made leaps and bounds in terms of modernisation, becoming a role model for other third world countries, it came at a price - the acceptance of a totalitarian government.

And this totalitarian government met its greatest opponent in 1998 in the figure of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whom Mahathir sacked and jailed. By then, Mahathir had 'changed'. Either that or his true colours were finally flushed out. The adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely could not be better applied to anyone than him.

Anwar went to become the Opposition Leader and is now the man most feared by Mahathir. Should the Pakatan Rakyat, the country's first meaningful opposition, topple the BN government, then it is curtains for Mahathir's dreams of leaving in a blaze of glory with his sons - especially current deputy Trade minister Mukhriz - in place to succeeed him one day.

In the twilight - Dr M and dynastic politics

For today, Mahathir is resting at the National Heart Insititute or IJN on doctor's orders due to a chest infection. There is time enough for him to reflect on his past years and to envision the direction forward that Malaysia needs to take to be in sync with the rest of the world.

Using unfair laws and oppression, Mahathir and BN can control what happens within Malaysia but they can't control what will happen in the rest of the world. How then for Malaysians to gel with the global community if politicking continues to be manipulated just so that his sons and those of Abdul Razak and Hussein Onn can continue to preside over UMNO and the country.

The three families may knock together a deal to alternate power amongst themselves. But for their dream to come true, they should have been born centuries ago. The new century is truly the age of Information and Communication culture. It empowers the masses in an incredible fashion with unbelievable scale and speed.

This development has already reached Malaysia, one of the fastest societies in the world to grasp social media and the Internet age. How then is it possible that there will continue to be a ceaseless stream of rustic-minded citizens - even in the rural areas - who will keep supporting the UMNO blindly?

Each year that passes, UMNO loses greater hold on the people and the nation. The loss will become sharper still in the years to come.

One way or another, the old system will end. If Mahathir and also current Prime Minister Najib Razak are truly smart, they should prepare themselves for this fact. Rather continue digging an even huger hole for themselves by daily ratcheting up the racial and religious politicking, they should pave the way for a new society.

Only then can they mitigate their own 'crimes' to the country. Or they will find only disgrace for themselves and their families in the same fashion as Egypt's Mubarak, Tunisia's Ben Ali and Libya's Gaddafi have found to their regret.

- Malaysia Chronicle