ELECTION BY AMBUSH: AS MAHATHIR TRACKS HIM DOWN, NAJIB TO SPRING A TRAP?

KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Najib Razak may dissolve Malaysia’s parliament as early as this month for an election expected by mid-2018 that would pit the ruling coalition against an opposition led by Mahathir Mohamad, a former prime minister resolved to unseat his onetime protege.

 Grassroots party leaders are mobilizing on the expectation of the parliament’s dissolution. Barisan Nasional, or the National Front, has held power since Malaysia’s independence in 1957, and the party enjoys favorable footing amid sound economic growth, low unemployment and strong leadership under Najib. But the fragmented opposition is organizing quickly under a determined Mahathir.

“Malaysia is led by a prime minister who is a thief,” Mahathir told thousands of people Saturday at an opposition rally.

Malaysian opposition supporters take their position before a night rally Oct. 14 in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur.

The 92-year-old politician urged voters to reject the National Front, led by Najib’s United Malays National Organization, and support the opposition Alliance of Hope. Mahathir for decades had been a supporter and leader of UMNO, which gave him the platform to climb the hierarchy and subsequently govern Malaysia for 22 years starting in 1981.

Ousting a sitting prime minister is not new to Mahathir, as he sparked the replacement of Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. Mahathir, a party member in the late 1960s, wrote then to Rahman, asking him to take responsibility for racial unrest that resulted in fatalities. That letter was later circulated widely, leading to Rahman’s downfall in 1970.

Mahathir also was instrumental in the 2009 removal of his handpicked successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and subsequently gave the nod for Najib to take over.

“We have had problems over the past 60 years of independence, but the one we have now is extraordinary,” Mahathir told the Saturday night crowd. He was dressed in red, the color of his newfound Malaysian United Indigenous Party.

Mahathir called Najib responsible for the billions of dollars in losses incurred by state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a claim that Najib has denied. Over the past two years, authorities from Switzerland to the U.S. have probed and penalized banks involving money laundering tied to funds from 1MDB. The fund, a brainchild of Najib, was set up to drive economic development through strategic investments.

Despite Mahathir’s relentless attacks, UMNO appears focused on leading the National Front to yet another victory. A party insider cited a general mood of confidence toward winning the 14th general election, which must be held by mid-2018. UMNO is drumming its campaign message quietly in events organized nationwide by local communities.

Parties already are working to persuade fence-sitters in time for parliament’s dissolution, which could come at any time on the discretion of Najib, who also serves as UMNO’s president.

– https://asia.nikkei.co