Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label=
Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th
Prime Minister of Malaysia
The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fed ...
. He held the office from July 1981 to October 2003 and later from May 2018 to March 2020 for a cumulative total of 24 years, making him the country's longest-serving prime minister. Before becoming premier, he served as
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...
and in other
cabinet positions. He was a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Langkawi
Langkawi, officially known by its sobriquet Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah ( ms, Langkawi Permata Kedah ), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) loc ...
from May 2018 to October 2022,
Kubang Pasu from August 1974 to March 2004, and
Kota Setar Selatan from April 1964 to May 1969. His political career has spanned more than 75 years, from joining protests opposing citizenship policies for non-Malays in the
Malayan Union in the 1940s to forming the
Gerakan Tanah Air
Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA, ''Homeland Movement'' or ''Homeland Party'') is a newly-formed alliance of Malay political parties, founded in August 2022 by former Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir had announced during the coal ...
coalition in 2022.
Born and raised in
Alor Setar,
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...
, Mahathir excelled at school and became a physician. He became active in the
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
(UMNO) before entering the
Parliament of Malaysia
The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, lit. "People's Assembly") and the D ...
in 1964. He served one term before losing his seat, subsequently falling out with Prime Minister
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
and being expelled from UMNO. He wrote ''
The Malay Dilemma
''The Malay Dilemma'' () is a 1970 book by Malaysia, Malaysian politician and writer Mahathir Mohamad, Mahathir bin Mohamad, who went on to be the country's longest serving Prime Minister of Malaysia, Prime Minister.
In it, Mahathir describes hi ...
'' during this period, which formed the basis of future
ethnic Malay affirmative action policies in the country. When Abdul Rahman resigned, Mahathir re-entered UMNO and parliament, and was promoted to
Minister of Education from 1974 to 1978 and
Minister of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce.
Notable examples are:
List
*Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
from 1978 to 1981. He became Deputy Prime Minister in 1976. In 1981, he was sworn in as prime minister following the resignation of
Hussein Onn.
During Mahathir's first tenure as prime minister, Malaysia experienced a period of rapid modernization and
economic growth, and his government initiated widespread industry
privatisation and a series of bold infrastructure projects. Mahathir was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections and fending off a series of rivals for UMNO's leadership. However, his power accumulation
came at the expense of judicial independence and the
Malaysian royalty's traditional powers and privileges. He continued pro-
''bumiputera'' affirmative action policies, but in the 1990s introduced the
Bangsa Malaysia
The ''Bangsa Malaysia'' ( en, Malaysian nation) policy was introduced by Mahathir Mohamad, then Prime Minister of Malaysia, to create an inclusive national identity for all inhabitants of Malaysia, thus abandoning the National Culture Policy tha ...
policy that saw some political liberalisation. He used the controversial
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to:
* Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law
*Internal Security Act (Singapore)
* McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law
*Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...
to detain activists, non-mainstream religious figures, and political opponents in
1987 Operation Lalang and later his own Deputy Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim,
whom he fired in 1998. Mahathir's record of curtailing
civil liberties in Malaysia as well as his antagonism towards Western interests and economic policy made his relationships with Western nations difficult. As prime minister, he was an advocate of Asian development models and
values
In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of di ...
, and was prominent across the
Muslim world
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
.
After retiring in 2003, Mahathir became a strident critic of his hand-picked successor
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and later
Najib Razak. In 2016, Mahathir quit UMNO over the
1MDB corruption scandal. As part of the
Malaysian United Indigenous Party
The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( ms, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia (). It is a major c ...
(BERSATU), he went on to lead the
Pakatan Harapan
The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...
opposition to victory in the
2018 general election. Mahathir became the first Malaysian prime minister not to represent the
Barisan Nasional
The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...
(BN) coalition (or its predecessor, the
Alliance Party), and the first to serve non-consecutive terms. In his second tenure, Mahathir prioritised reopening investigations into the
1MDB scandal, combatting
corruption and "restoring the
rule of law", and cutting spending on large infrastructure projects such as those under the
Belt and Road Initiative. Prior to the election, Mahathir promised to seek a
pardon for
Anwar Ibrahim and hand over the premiership to him after an unspecified interim period.
In 2020, Mahathir's refusal to commit to handing over the office of Prime Minister to Anwar contributed to a
political crisis
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
that led to Mahathir's resignation as Prime Minister and the collapse of the
Pakatan Harapan
The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...
government.
At the time of his resignation, he was the world's
oldest serving state leader at the age of 94. Mahathir left BERSATU in protest of its
new coalition with UMNO and formed the
Homeland Fighters Party and coalition
Gerakan Tanah Air
Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA, ''Homeland Movement'' or ''Homeland Party'') is a newly-formed alliance of Malay political parties, founded in August 2022 by former Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir had announced during the coal ...
. Mahathir subsequently lost his parliamentary seat for
Langkawi
Langkawi, officially known by its sobriquet Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah ( ms, Langkawi Permata Kedah ), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) loc ...
and his election deposit in the
2022 general election
The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
* 2022 United Nations Security Council election
* 2022 national electoral calendar
* 2022 local ...
.
Early life and education
Mahathir was born at his parents' home in a poor neighbourhood at Lorong Kilang Ais,
Alor Setar, the capital of the Malay sultanate of
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...
, which was then a
British protectorate, on 10 July 1925.
His mother, Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi, was a Malay of Kedah. His father, Mohamad Iskandar, was a
Penang Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
of Malay and Indian descent. Mahathir's paternal grandfather had come from
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(present-day,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) and married a Malay woman. Another aspect of Mahathir's birth set him apart from the other first six
prime ministers
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...
: he was not born into the aristocracy or a prominent religious or political family.
Mohamad was the principal of an
English-medium
An English-medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students.
Initially this is associated with the expansion of English from its homeland i ...
secondary school, whose lower-middle-class status meant his daughters were unable to enroll in a secondary school. Wan Tempawan had only distant relations to members of Kedah's royalty. Both had been married previously. Mahathir was born with six half-siblings and two full-siblings.
His childhood home was converted to the Mahathir Mohamad birth house complex and opened to the public.
Mahathir was a hard-working school student. Discipline imposed by his father motivated him to study, and he showed little interest in sports. He won a position in a
selective English medium secondary school, having become fluent in English well ahead of his primary school peers. With schools closed during the
Japanese occupation of Malaya
The then British colony of Malaya was gradually occupied by the Japanese between 8 December 1941 and the Allied surrender at Singapore on 16 February 1942. The Japanese remained in occupation until their surrender to the Allies in 1945. The ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he started a small business, selling coffee and later ''
pisang goreng
A banana fritter is a fritter made by deep frying battered banana or plantain in hot oil. It is a common dish across Southeast Asia and South India,Kerala.
Varieties Brunei
Banana fritters are a traditional snack in Brunei, where they are call ...
'' (banana fritters) and other snacks.
After the war, Mahathir graduated from secondary school with the highest rank and enrolled to study medicine at the
King Edward VII College of Medicine
King Edward VII Medical College (KEMC) was a medical school from 1905 to 1949 in Singapore, the first one in what was then Malaya. It was officially named King Edward VII Medical College in 1921 and subsequently became the Faculty of Medicine, U ...
in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. Mahathir is an
alumnus of the
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
. When the university granted him and his wife
honorary degrees
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
in November 2018, he said, "I will always value my stay in Singapore for nearly six years." Singapore's long-time prime minister
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
was a student at the Raffles College, which merged with the King Edward VII College of Medicine in August 1949 to form the University of Malaya, with campuses located solely in Singapore.
After graduating with an
MBBS medical degree in Gyneocology and Osterorician, Mahathir worked as a physician in government service. He married Siti Hasmah in 1956. He returned to Alor Setar in 1957 to set up his own practice. He was the town's first Malay physician and a successful one. He built a large house, invested in various businesses, and employed a Chinese man to
chauffeur him in his
Pontiac Catalina
The Pontiac Catalina is a full-size, junior series automobile produced by Pontiac from 1950 to 1981. Initially, the name was a trim line on hardtop body styles, first appearing in the 1950 Chieftain Eight and DeLuxe Eight lines. In 1959, it becam ...
(most chauffeurs at the time were Malay).
Early political career (1959–1970)
Mahathir had been politically active since the end of Malaya's
Japanese occupation, when he joined protests against citizenship granted to non-Malays under the short-lived
Malayan Union. He later argued for
affirmative action for Malays at medical college. While at college, he contributed to ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...
'' under the pseudonym "C.H.E. Det" and a student journal, in which he fiercely promoted Malay rights, such as restoring Malay as an official language.
While practising as a physician in Alor Setar, Mahathir became active in UMNO. By the time of the
first general election for the independent state of
Malaya in 1959, he was the chairman of the party in Kedah.
Despite his prominence in UMNO, Mahathir was not a candidate in the 1959 election, ruling himself out following a disagreement with then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. The relationship between the two Kedahans had been strained since Mahathir had criticised Tunku Abdul Rahman's agreement to retain British and
Commonwealth forces in Malaya after independence. Tunku Abdul Rahman opposed Mahathir's plans to introduce minimum educational qualifications for UMNO candidates. For Mahathir, this was a significant enough slight to delay his entry into national politics in protest. The delay did not last for long. In the following
general election in 1964, he was elected as the federal parliamentarian for the Alor Setar-based seat of
Kota Setar Selatan.
Elected to parliament in a volatile political period, Mahathir, as a government backbencher, launched himself into the main conflict of the day:
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
's future, with its large and economically powerful
ethnic Chinese population,
as a state of Malaysia. He vociferously attacked Singapore's dominant
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
for being "pro-Chinese" and "anti-Malay" and called its leader,
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
, "arrogant". Singapore was
expelled from Malaysia in Mahathir's first full year in parliament.
However, despite Mahathir's prominence as a backbencher, he lost his seat in the
1969 election, defeated by
Yusof Rawa
Yusof bin Abdullah ( Jawi: ; 8 May 1922 – 27 April 2000) was a Malaysian politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Malaysia and from 1982 to 1989, he served as President of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). His legal name was Yus ...
of the
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...
(PAS).
[Tan & Vasil, p. 51] Mahathir attributed the loss of his seat to ethnic Chinese voters switching support from UMNO to PAS. Being a Malay-dominated seat, only the two major Malay parties fielded candidates, leaving Chinese voters to choose between the Malay-centric UMNO and the Islamist PAS.
Large government losses in the election were followed by the
race riots of 13 May 1969. Hundreds of people were killed in clashes between Malays and Chinese. In 1968, Mahathir had predicted the outbreak of racial hostility. Outside parliament, he openly criticised the government, sending a letter to
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
. He criticised the prime minister for failing to uphold Malay interests. The letter, which soon became public, called for Tunku Abdul Rahman's resignation. By the end of the year, Mahathir had been fired from UMNO's Supreme Council and expelled from the party. Tunku Abdul Rahman had to be persuaded not to have him arrested.
While in the political wilderness, Mahathir wrote his first book, ''
The Malay Dilemma
''The Malay Dilemma'' () is a 1970 book by Malaysia, Malaysian politician and writer Mahathir Mohamad, Mahathir bin Mohamad, who went on to be the country's longest serving Prime Minister of Malaysia, Prime Minister.
In it, Mahathir describes hi ...
''. He set out his vision for the Malay community. The book argued that a balance had to be achieved between enough government support for Malays so that their economic interests would not be dominated by the Chinese and exposing Malays to sufficient competition to ensure that over time, Malays would lose what Mahathir saw as the characteristics of avoiding hard work and failing to "appreciate the real value of money and property". The book continued Mahathir's criticism of Tunku Abdul Rahman's government, and it was promptly banned. The ban was only lifted after Mahathir became prime minister in 1981. He had served as a minister and deputy prime minister while being the author of a banned book.
Academics R. S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy argue that Mahathir's relentless attacks were the principal cause of Tunku Abdul Rahman's downfall and subsequent resignation as prime minister in 1970.
Rise to prominence (1970–1981)
Tunku Abdul Rahman resigned in 1970 and was replaced by
Abdul Razak Hussein. Razak encouraged Mahathir back into the party and appointed him as a
Senator in 1973. He rose quickly in the
Razak government, returning to UMNO's Supreme Council in 1973. He was appointed to Cabinet in 1974 as the Minister for Education. He returned to the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
, winning the Kedah-based seat of Kubang Pasu unopposed in the
1974 election.
One of his first acts as Minister for Education was to introduce greater government control over
Malaysia's universities, despite strong opposition from the academic community. He moved to limit politics on university campuses, giving his ministry the power to discipline students and academics who were politically active and making scholarships for students conditional on the avoidance of politics.
In 1975, Mahathir ran for one of the three vice-presidencies of UMNO. The contest was considered a battle for the party's leadership succession, with Razak and his deputy, Hussein Onn, declining in health. Each of Razak's preferred candidates was elected: former Chief Minister of
Melaka
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
, Ghafar Baba;
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah ( Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gua Musang from August 1986 to November ...
, a wealthy businessman and member of
Kelantan
Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").
Kelantan is located in th ...
's royal family; and Mahathir. When Razak died the following year, Hussein, as his successor, was forced to choose between the three men to be deputy prime minister. He also considered the ambitious minister
Ghazali Shafie
Tun Muhammad Ghazali bin Shafie ( ms, محمد غزالي بن شافعي, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 22 March 1922 – 24 January 2010) was a Malaysian politician and diplomat. He served under the administrations of four Prime ...
.
Mahathir's rivals had significant political liabilities: Ghazali, having been defeated by the others for a vice-presidency, lacked the support of UMNO members. Ghafar had no higher education and was not fluent in English. Razaleigh was young, inexperienced and, critically, unmarried. However, Hussein's decision was not easy. Hussein and Mahathir were not close allies, and Hussein knew Mahathir's choice would displease Abdul Rahman, still alive and revered as the father of Malaysia's independence. After six weeks of indecision, Mahathir was, much to his surprise, appointed as Hussein's deputy. The appointment meant that Mahathir was the anointed successor to the prime ministership.
However, Mahathir was not an influential deputy prime minister. Hussein was a cautious leader who rejected many of Mahathir's bold policy proposals. While Hussein and Mahathir's relationship was distant, Ghazali and Razaleigh became Hussein's closest advisers, often bypassing the more senior Mahathir when accessing Hussein. Nonetheless, when Hussein relinquished power due to ill health in 1981, Mahathir succeeded him unopposed and with his blessing.
First term as prime minister (1981–2003)
Early years (1981–1987)
Mahathir was sworn in as prime minister on 16 July 1981, at the age of 56.
One of his first acts was to release 21 detainees held under the
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to:
* Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law
*Internal Security Act (Singapore)
* McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law
*Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...
, including journalist
Samad Ismail and a former deputy minister in Hussein's government,
Abdullah Ahmad
Tan Sri Abdullah bin Ahmad (4 July 1937 – 12 June 2016) was a Malaysian journalist and politician from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Alumni of Sultan Ismail College, Kota Bharu, Kelantan and at one time, he was the editor-in- ...
, who had been suspected of being an underground communist. He appointed his close ally,
Musa Hitam
Tun Musa bin Hitam ( Jawi: موسى بن هيتم; born 18 April 1934) is a Malaysian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 1986, serving under Mahathir Mohamad. He was the chairman of Sime Darby Berhad.
Early lif ...
, as deputy prime minister.
Mahathir exercised caution in his first two years in power, consolidating UMNO's leadership and, with victory in the
1982 general election, the government. In 1983, Mahathir commenced the first of a number of battles he would have with Malaysia's royalty during his premiership. The position of
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The o ...
, the Malaysian head of state, was due to rotate into either the elderly
Idris Shah II of
Perak or the controversial
Iskandar of Johor
Sultan Iskandar Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail
Retrieved 3 January 2009 ( , who had only a few years earlier been convicted of manslaughter. Thus Mahathir had grave reservations about the two Sultans, who were both activist rulers of their own states.
Mahathir tried to pre-emptively limit the power that the new Agong could wield over his government, introducing to parliament amendments to the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
to deem the Agong to assent to any bill that had not been assented within 15 days of passage by Parliament. The proposal removed the power to declare a state of emergency from the Agong and place it with the prime minister. The Agong at the time,
Ahmad Shah of Pahang
Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’azzam Shah ( Jawi: ; 24 October 1930 – 22 May 2019) was the fifth modern Sultan of Pahang, and also served as the seventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong ...
, agreed with the proposals in principle, but baulked when he realised that the proposal would deem Sultans to assent to laws passed by state assemblies. Supported by the Sultans, the Agong refused to assent to the constitutional amendments, which had by then passed both houses of Parliament with comfortable majorities.
When the public became aware of the impasse, and the Sultans refused to compromise with the government, Mahathir took to the streets to demonstrate public support for his position in mass rallies. The press took the side of the government. A large minority of Malays, including conservative UMNO politicians, and an even larger proportion of the Chinese community supported the Sultans. After five months, the crisis was resolved, as Mahathir and the Sultans agreed to a compromise. The Agong retained the power to declare a state of emergency. However, if he refused to assent to a bill, the bill would be returned to Parliament, which could then override Agong's veto.
On the economic front, Mahathir inherited the
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
from his predecessors, which was designed to improve the economic position of the
bumiputera Bumiputera or Bumiputra, which is a Malay word, comes from the Sanskrit word ''Bhumiputra'' which may be transliterated as "son of earth" or "son of the soil" (Bhūmi; भूमि = earth; putra = son). It has different definitions in Brunei and M ...
, Malaysia's Malays and indigenous peoples, via targets and affirmative action in areas such as corporate ownership and university admission. Mahathiractively pursued
privatisation of government enterprises from the early 1980s, both for the liberal economic reasons it was being pursued by contemporaries such as
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, and because he felt that combined with affirmative action for the Bumiputera, it could provide economic opportunities for Bumiputera businesses. His government privatised airlines, utilities and telecommunication firms, accelerating to a rate of about 50 privatisations a year by the mid-1990s.
While privatisation generally improved the working conditions of Malaysians in privatised industries and raised significant revenue for the government, many privatisations occurred in the absence of open tendering processes and benefited Malays who supported UMNO. One of the most notable infrastructure projects at the time was the construction of the
North–South Expressway, a motorway running from the Thai border to Singapore. The contract to construct the expressway was awarded to a business venture of UMNO. Mahathir oversaw the establishment of the car manufacturer
Proton as a joint venture between the Malaysian government and
Mitsubishi. By the end of the 1980s, Proton had overcome poor demand and losses to become, with the support of protective tariffs, the largest carmaker in Southeast Asia and a profitable enterprise.
In Mahathir's early years as prime minister, Malaysia was experiencing a resurgence of Islam among Malays. Malays were becoming more religious and more conservative.
PAS, which had in the 1970s joined UMNO in government, responded to the resurgence by taking an increasingly strident Islamist stand under the leadership of
Yusof Rawa
Yusof bin Abdullah ( Jawi: ; 8 May 1922 – 27 April 2000) was a Malaysian politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Malaysia and from 1982 to 1989, he served as President of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). His legal name was Yus ...
, who in 1969 had defeated Mahathir for his parliamentary seat. Mahathir tried to appeal to religious voters by establishing Islamic institutions such as the
International Islamic University of Malaysia which could promote Islamic education under the government's oversight.
He also attracted Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the
Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), to join UMNO. In some cases, Mahathir's government employed repression against more extreme exponents of Islamism.
Ibrahim Libya, a popular Islamist leader, was killed in a
police shoot-out in 1985.
Al-Arqam, a religious sect, was banned, and its leader,
Ashaari Mohammad
Haji Ashaari Mohammad (30 October 1937 – 13 May 2010) was the leader of the Malaysian-based Islamic religious sect Al-Arqam. The sect was banned by in Malaysia by the federal government on 21 October 1994. He and other Al-Arqam members wer ...
, arrested under the Internal Security Act. Mahathir comprehensively defeated PAS at the polls in
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
, winning 83 seats of the 84 seats it contested, leaving PAS with just one MP.
Exerting power (1987–1990)
Any illusion that the 1986 election may have created about Mahathir's political dominance was short-lived. In 1987, he was
challenged for UMNO's presidency, and effectively the prime ministership, by
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah ( Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gua Musang from August 1986 to November ...
. Razaleigh's career had gone backwards under Mahathir, being demoted from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Razaleigh was supported by Musa, who had resigned as deputy prime minister the previous year. While Musa and Mahathir were originally close allies, the two had fallen out during Mahathir's premiership. Musa claimed that Mahathir no longer trusted him. Razaleigh and Musa ran for the UMNO presidency and deputy presidency on a joint ticket against Mahathir and his new choice for deputy
Ghafar Baba
Tun Abdul Ghafar bin Baba ( ms, عبدالغفار بن باب, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 18 February 1925 – 23 April 2006) was a Malaysian politician who served as 6th Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1986 to 1993.
Li ...
.
The tickets were known as Team B and Team A, respectively. Mahathir's Team A enjoyed the press's support, most party heavyweights, and even Iskandar, now the Agong. However, some significant figures, such as
Abdullah Badawi
Abdullah may refer to:
* Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname
* Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village
* ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan
* '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...
supported Team B. In the election, held on 24 April 1987, Team A prevailed. Mahathir was re-elected by a narrow margin, receiving the votes of 761 party delegates to Razaleigh's 718. Ghafar defeated Musa by a slightly larger margin. Mahathir responded by purging seven Team B supporters from his ministry. At the same time, Team B refused to accept defeat and initiated litigation. In an unexpected decision in February 1988, the
High Courts ruled that UMNO was an illegal organisation as some of its branches had not been lawfully registered.
Each faction raced to register a new party under the UMNO name. Mahathir's side successfully registered the name "UMNO Baru" ("new UMNO"), while Team B's application to register "UMNO Malaysia" was rejected. UMNO Malaysia, under Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's leadership and support of both of Malaysia's surviving former prime ministers, Abdul Rahman and Hussein, registered the party
Semangat 46
The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or ''Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46)'' is a now defunct Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's "Team B" faction of the United Malays ...
instead. The Lord President of the
Supreme Court,
Salleh Abas
Mohamed Salleh bin Abas ( Jawi: محمد صالح بن عباس; 25 August 1929 – 16 January 2021) was a Malaysian judge and politician. He was a Lord President of the Federal (then Supreme) Court of Malaysia. He was dismissed from his ...
, sent a letter of protest to the Agong. Mahathir then suspended Salleh for "gross misbehaviour and conduct", ostensibly because the letter was a breach of protocol. A tribunal set up by Mahathir found Salleh guilty and recommended to the Agong that Salleh be dismissed. Five other judges of the court supported Salleh and were suspended by Mahathir. A newly constituted court dismissed Team B's appeal, allowing Mahathir's faction to continue to use the name UMNO. According to Milne and Mauzy, the episode destroyed the independence of Malaysia's judiciary.
At the same time as the political and judicial crises, Mahathir initiated a crackdown on opposition dissidents using the
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to:
* Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law
*Internal Security Act (Singapore)
* McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law
*Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...
. Mahathir later declared that it was only used to lock up people accused of riots, unlawful assembly, terrorism and those who have murdered police officers. The appointment of several administrators who did not speak Mandarin to Chinese schools provoked an outcry among Chinese Malaysians to the point where UMNO's coalition partners the
Malaysian Chinese Association
The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...
and
Gerakan joined the
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...
(DAP) in protesting the appointments.
UMNO's Youth wing held a provocative protest that triggered a shooting by a lone Malay gunman. Only Mahathir's interference prevented UMNO from staging a larger protest. Instead, Mahathir ordered what Wain calls "the biggest crackdown on political dissent Malaysia had ever seen". Under a police operation codenamed "
Operation Lalang
Operation Lalang ( ms, Operasi Lalang, also referred as Ops Lalang and taken to mean "Weeding Operation" or "Operation Weeding") was a major crackdown between 27 October and 20 November 1987 undertaken by the Royal Malaysian Police, ostensibl ...
", 119 people were arrested and detained without charge under the Internal Security Act. Mahathir argued that the detentions were necessary to prevent a repeat of the 1969 race riots. Most of the detainees were prominent opposition activists, including the DAP leader,
Lim Kit Siang
Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a Malaysian politician. He is the longest-serving leader of the opposition in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions. He is also former Secretary-Genera ...
, and nine of his fellow MPs. Three newspapers sympathetic to the opposition were shut down.
Mahathir suffered a heart attack in early 1989. He recovered to lead Barisan Nasional to victory in the
1990 election. Semangat 46 failed to make any headway outside Razaleigh's home state of Kelantan.
Economic development to financial crisis (1990–1998)
The expiry of the Malaysian New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1990 allowed Mahathir to outline his economic vision for Malaysia. In 1991, he announced
Vision 2020, under which Malaysia would aim to become a fully developed country within 30 years. The target would require average economic growth of approximately seven per cent of gross domestic product per annum. One of Vision 2020's features would be to gradually break down ethnic barriers. Vision 2020 was accompanied by the NEP's replacement, the
National Development Policy
The National Development Policy was a Malaysian economic policy introduced by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The objective was achieving economic growth, while ensuring that accrued benefits reached all sections of society. The National Developm ...
(NDP), under which some government programs designed to benefit the
''bumiputera'' exclusively were opened up to other ethnicities.
The NDP achieved success out one of its main aims, poverty reduction. By 1995, less than nine per cent of Malaysians lived in
poverty, and
income inequality
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...
had narrowed. Mahathir also introduced the
Bangsa Malaysia
The ''Bangsa Malaysia'' ( en, Malaysian nation) policy was introduced by Mahathir Mohamad, then Prime Minister of Malaysia, to create an inclusive national identity for all inhabitants of Malaysia, thus abandoning the National Culture Policy tha ...
policy, which aimed to facilitate
greater representation of non-Malay ethnicities in Malaysia. Mahathir's government cut corporate taxes and liberalised financial regulations to attract foreign investment. The economy grew by over nine per cent per annum until 1997, prompting other developing countries to emulate Mahathir's policies. Much of the credit for Malaysia's economic development in the 1990s went to Anwar Ibrahim, appointed by Mahathir as finance minister in 1991. The government rode the economic wave and won the
1995 election with an increased majority.
Mahathir initiated a series of major infrastructure projects in the 1990s. One of the largest was the
Multimedia Super Corridor, an area south of
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
, in the mould of
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...
, designed to cater for the information technology industry. However, the project failed to generate the investment anticipated. Other Mahathir projects included the development of
Putrajaya as the home of Malaysia's public service and bringing a
Formula One Grand Prix to
Sepang. One of the most controversial developments was the
Bakun Dam
The Bakun Dam is an embankment dam located in Belaga District, Kapit Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, on the Balui River, a tributary or source of the Rajang River and some sixty kilometres east of Belaga. As part of the project, the second talle ...
in
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
. The ambitious hydro-electric project was intended to carry electricity across the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
to satisfy electricity demand in peninsular Malaysia. Work on the dam was eventually suspended due to the
Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...
. The
1997 Southeast Asian haze, the worst
haze event in history caused by
Indonesian forest fires, was a major air pollution crisis for the country; Mahathir launched a
cross-border firefighting operation in response.
In 1997, the
Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...
, which began in Thailand in mid-1997, threatened to devastate Malaysia. The value of the
ringgit plummeted due to currency speculation, foreign investment fled, and the main stock exchange index fell by over 75 per cent. At the urging of the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
(IMF), the government cut government spending. It raised interest rates, which only served to exacerbate the economic situation. In 1998, in a controversial approach, Mahathir reversed this policy course in defiance of the IMF and his own deputy, Anwar. He increased government spending and fixed the ringgit to the US dollar. The result confounded his international critics and the IMF. Malaysia recovered from the crisis faster than its Southeast Asian neighbours. In the
domestic sphere, it was a political triumph. Amidst the economic events of 1998, Mahathir had dismissed Anwar as finance minister and deputy prime minister. He could now claim to have rescued the economy despite Anwar's policies. Anwar led the
''reformasi'' movement against Mahathir's government in response.
In his second decade in office, Mahathir had again found himself battling Malaysia's royalty. In 1992, Sultan Iskandar's son, a representative
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...
player, was suspended from competition for five years for assaulting an opponent. Iskandar retaliated by pulling all Johor hockey teams out of national competitions. When a local coach criticised his decision, Iskandar ordered him to his palace and beat him. The federal parliament unanimously censured Iskandar, and Mahathir leapt at the opportunity to remove the constitutional immunity of the sultans from civil and criminal suits. The press backed Mahathir and, in an unprecedented development, started airing allegations of misconduct by members of Malaysia's royal families.
As the press revealed examples of the rulers' extravagant wealth, Mahathir resolved to cut financial support to royal households. With the press and the government pitted against them, the sultans capitulated to the government's proposals. Their powers to deny assent to bills were limited by further constitutional amendments passed in 1994. With the status and powers of the Malaysian royalty diminished, Wain writes that by the mid-1990s, Mahathir had become the country's "uncrowned king". His policies during his first premiership were later described as "
authoritarian" by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
By the mid-1990s, it became clear that the most serious threat to Mahathir's power was Anwar's leadership ambition. Anwar began to distance himself from Mahathir, overtly promoting his superior religious credentials and appearing to suggest he favoured loosening the restrictions on civil liberties that had become a hallmark of Mahathir's premiership. However, Mahathir continued to back Anwar as his successor until their relationship collapsed dramatically during the Asian financial crisis, with Mahathir abandoning the tight monetary and fiscal policies urged by the IMF. Anwar refused to bail-out Mahathir son, Mirzan Mahathir's, interests in
, criticised the government for not doing enough to combat corruption and cronyism. As Mahathir took the reins of Malaysia's economic policy over the coming months, Anwar was increasingly sidelined. On 2 September, he was dismissed as deputy prime minister and finance minister and promptly expelled from UMNO. No immediate reasons were given for the dismissal. However, the media speculated that it related to lurid allegations of sexual misconduct circulated in a "poison pen letter" at the general assembly. As more allegations surfaced, large public rallies were held in support of Anwar. On 20 September, he was arrested and placed in detention under the Internal Security Act.
Anwar stood trial on four charges of corruption, arising from allegations that Anwar abused his power by ordering police to intimidate persons who had alleged Anwar had sodomised them. Before Anwar's trial, Mahathir told the press that he was convinced of Anwar's guilt. He was found guilty in April 1999 and sentenced to six years in prison. In another trial shortly after, Anwar was sentenced to another nine years in prison on a conviction for sodomy. The sodomy conviction was overturned on appeal after Mahathir left office.
While Mahathir had vanquished his rival, it came at a cost to his international community and domestic politics. US Secretary of State
defended Anwar as a "highly respectable leader" who was "entitled to due process and a fair trial". In a speech in Kuala Lumpur, which Mahathir attended, US Vice-President
stated that "we continue to hear calls for democracy", including "among the brave people of Malaysia". At the
refused to meet Mahathir, while his foreign minister met with Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Wan Azizah had formed a liberal opposition party, the
. UMNO lost 18 seats and two state governments as large numbers of Malay voters flocked to PAS and Keadilan, many in protest at the treatment of Anwar.
In September 2001, debate was caused by Mahathir's announcement that Malaysia was already an
. At UMNO's general assembly in 2002, he announced that he would resign as prime minister, only for supporters to rush to the stage and convince him tearfully to remain. He subsequently fixed his retirement for October 2003, giving him time to ensure an orderly and uncontroversial transition to his anointed successor, Abdullah Badawi. In a speech made before the Organization of the Islamic Conference shortly before he left office, Mahathir claimed "the Jews rule the world by proxy: They get others to fight and die for them." His speech was denounced by President
. Having spent over 22 years in office, Mahathir was the world's longest-serving elected leader when he retired.
was collaborative, despite him being known as an outspoken critic.
sparked a boycott of all British goods led by Mahathir, in what became known as the "Buy British Last" campaign. It also led to a search for development models in Asia, most notably Japan. This was the beginning of his famous "Look East Policy". Although the dispute was later resolved by Prime Minister
over contemporary Western ones. He particularly criticised what he believed were the double standards of Western nations.
.
Nevertheless, relations between the two countries were still positive. The United States was the biggest foreign investment source and was Malaysia's biggest customer during Mahathir's rule. Furthermore, Malaysian military officers continued to train in the US under the International
(IMET) program. The
...