Mahathir: Approve or disapprove?

Back in the good ol' days when I worked at Malaysiakini, one of the things my colleagues used to say about Dr Mahathir Mohamed was: he sure is good for the news business.

There’s no doubt that Mahathir remains quite the newsmaker, even at 92. I imagine he will be the oldest candidate for prime minister in Malaysia.

As he takes up the mantle of leader of the opposition, let us explore some of the questions raised by his candidacy - frequently asked questions (FAQ) style.

Most of the intense discussions regarding Mahathir’s candidacy are informed by very strong personal feelings, one way or the other.

Today, we will start by talking about some of those feelings, while tomorrow we will explore some larger political questions.

I confess, I unfortunately do not have a strong position on whether or not I "approve" of Mahathir’s candidacy.

What I can offer instead perhaps, is my own personal "approval rating" for each factor I believe comes into play. I’ll leave the weightage of each factor to individual readers.

What impact has Mahathir had on your life?

For some, living under Mahathir was almost a "golden age." The early and middle parts of his reign especially, were marked by large government spending that benefited many Umno-affiliated Malaysians, and probably reduced poverty rates overall.

For Umno supporters, this was also a time of unprecedented hegemony, as Mahathir dominated over political rivals from both the opposition and within BN, facing threats only from within Umno itself.

Conversely, my estimation is that a large number of people who strongly disapprove of Mahathir have in some way personally been a victim of oppression under his government.

There are those who were hunted down during Ops Lalang, along with their families and supporters; and there are those who were in institutions that Mahathir went to great lengths to cripple, such as the judiciary and the Malay rulers.

I strongly believe that such individuals have a full right to their opinion; even if that opinion is that Mahathir belongs in jail, not in the PM’s office.

Whether or not we support Mahathir becoming PM again, it is really not our place to ask people to set aside or disregard what they suffered.

I do not feel either that we should use arguments like: If Anwar Ibrahim’s family has forgiven him, why can’t you?

In many ways, what Anwar or say Lim Kit Siang suffered is separate from what others felt under Mahathir’s oppression, and no one has the right to "forgive" Mahathir on anyone else’s behalf.

In that same vein of course, I believe it is not anyone’s place to disapprove of anyone who does decide to "forgive" Mahathir.

Ultimately, this is a personal decision and I believe everyone deserves space to make that decision on their own, and for that decision to be respected as is.

Does Mahathir deserve to be PM?

The next question concerns whether we feel Mahathir deserves this post. The word "deserves" here refers to whether Mahathir’s track record encourages us, or discourages us, from supporting him.

I think most objective analyses would find Mahathir’s legacy to be mixed.

On one hand, many can credit him with sustained economic growth (due, in part, no doubt to global trends at the time), and for the most part, a period of the type of political stability that comes with an extremely strong, powerful top executive (think Singapore).

On the other hand, few objective observers would deny that Mahathir was responsible for crippling many of the institutions in Malaysia tasked with providing a proper check and balance to the executive - one of the biggest problems we still find ourselves dealing with in the present.

We also cannot deny that the word "oppressive" can very justifiably used to describe Mahathir’s reign. Mahathir’s heavy hand was felt not only by institutions but by a large number of individuals - anyone who was perceived as being a threat to his power was summarily dealt with, often without due process.

Personally, I have a tendency to focus a little more on human rights than on economic growth, so in this regard, based on Mahathir’s record, I would give an approval rating of only 15 percent on this question.

Will Mahathir be oppressive again?

Can we trust Mahathir?

The first part of this question is: Will Mahathir rule the way he did when he was in power?

There is certainly no objective way to determine this conclusively. We can only speculate.

We can start by asking ourselves, does Mahathir at 93, as an individual, look and act similar to Mahathir at 55?

I’d personally say: not really. My own reading is that it seems unlikely that Mahathir will behave exactly the way he did twenty or thirty years ago.

The younger Mahathir had tenacity and arrogance - an alpha male’s drive to dominate.

Mahathir today still has much of his tenacity, but I feel he has lost a significant amount of that killer instinct and appetite for authority which led him to mercilessly crush his opposition at every opportunity back in the day.

I’m sure many will call this view naive, but I have a feeling that Mahathir’s age and experiences outside power have mellowed him at least a little. If nothing else, he seems a little more humble.

On this matter, I personally give Mahathir a 70 percent approval rating.

Will Mahathir betray the cause?

In exploring this question, we speculate as to what Mahathir would do should he find himself in power.

The entire basis of Pakatan Harapan today is supposed to be a commitment to reform. Is Mahathir truly personally committed to reform? Does he want to replace cronyism, or does he want to replace cronies?

How does Mahathir really feel about battling Umno, his party of more than half a century? Is he ready to relegate it to history, or does he somehow seek to reform it via external pressure, and then return triumphant into the party he shaped?

When we examine Mahathir’s political past, we find a history full of twists and turns. He has had a long history of falling out with his allies, and his time post-premiership has seen him leave Umno, then rejoin Umno and so on and so forth.

If we look at this track record on its own then, certainly we cannot blame some for being wary of what he may or may not do to his allies du jour.

On this issue, I would give Mahathir a rating of 35 percent.

NEXT
Beyond Mahathir: What of Bersatu and Harapan?

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NATHANIEL TAN will be on a panel of speakers at a forum on Mahathir this Thursday night at 8.30pm at the KLSCAH. All are welcome, he says. - Mkini