PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad transformed Langkawi, a small fishing island on the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia into a tourist hot spot, by declaring it a tax-free haven and opening up its beaches for business when he was premier for more than 20 years.
This coupled with the years of experience is what boosts the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) chairman's popularity among his followers.
"While he may face setbacks in competing for the prime ministerial seat in the upcoming 15th General Election, his spot in Langkawi is secured as he is a political icon there," said Prof James Chin of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania.
"He has the advantage there thanks to the trust the people of Langkawi have over him as their representative of the state," he added.
However, Chin noted that Dr Mahathir, who is Langkawi MP, would face issues in gunning for the seat to become Malaysia’s 10th prime minister.
"This time, he will most certainly face a real opposition from getting the seat he wants because Umno will certainly go into campaigning strongly against him in this election.
"His weakness will be the impact of his choices back in February 2020 where the development commonly dubbed the ‘Sheraton Move’, saw the fall of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition government and the resignation of himself as the seventh prime minister after 22 months in power.
"A lot of Malaysians including many from the Malay community believe that the start of Malaysia’s political instability was due to his resignation back in 2020.
"If he had not resigned, we would not have had issues with the instability we face at the moment," Chin said.
On the other hand, independent political analyst Khoo Kay Peng said any party without Dr Mahathir is as good as non-existent, especially when it came to his experience, knowledge and stature.
Similar to Chin, Khoo noted that it would be trying if Dr Mahathir hoped to win the 15th General Election as many voters would not be willing to repeat the mistake to choose him as their prime minister.
"He took the mandate for granted by resigning from the post of prime minister which he held for the second time back in 2018.
"He had many options to keep the Pakatan government in power if he was sincere. Hence, I am in the conclusion that the voters at large are not keen to repeat the mistake with him once again," Khoo said.
In 2018, Dr Mahathir won the Langkawi parliamentary seat with a majority of 8,893 against his opponents - Barisan Nasional's Datuk Nawawi Ahmad and PAS' Zubir Ahmad. - Star
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