Is PM Mahathir gradually handing over power?<\/p>\n
By Juergen Dauth<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (DPA): Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is
\ngiving himself a break. After 17 years in office, his designated
\nsuccessor Anwar Ibrahim is being handed the reins of power for
\ntwo months.<\/p>\n
Political observers are speculating and the business world is
\nlooking on anxiously at this ordeal by fire.<\/p>\n
Anwar Ibrahim, who has been Malaysia's deputy premier and
\nfinance minister since 1993, is to take over full responsibility
\nof office during this period.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, who has been premier since 1983, is keeping his
\ncards close to his chest, as is his custom. He says he wants to
\nrelax and write books.<\/p>\n
He also wants to promote in European capitals Malaysia's leap
\ninto the information technology age and his personal vision of
\nthe country as a cyberspace giant.<\/p>\n
There has been no mention that he might be growing tired of
\noffice or of an imminent transfer of power.<\/p>\n
During his 17 years in office, Mahathir has led the Southeast
\nAsian constitutional monarchy from being an agrarian exporter of
\nraw materials into the industrial age.<\/p>\n
The nation of rubber producers and palm oil exporters today
\nmakes cars and has carved out for itself a large slice of the
\nadvanced electronic technology market.<\/p>\n
Mahathir has consolidated Malaysia's social structure, evened
\nout latent tensions in the multi-racial state and thereby created
\na political stability which the international business world has
\nrewarded with billions of dollars worth of investments.<\/p>\n
Mahathir has also pragmatically mediated between his strive
\ntowards modernization and the country's Moslem majority.<\/p>\n
Many political observers say Anwar Ibrahim, aged 50, is still
\nan unknown quantity. As leader of the Islamic youth movement
\nAbim, he made headlines with his brand of Islamic socialism.<\/p>\n
The establishment, led by the Malay party Umno, thereupon
\narrested him under the provisions of emergency legislation on
\ninternal security for a cooling off period.<\/p>\n
He joined mainstream politics in 1982, having been hand-picked
\nby Mahathir. He became education minister, minister for youth,
\nculture and sport and since 1993 has been Mahathir's deputy and
\ndesignated successor.<\/p>\n
He may not share the occasionally provocative anti-western
\nrhetoric of his political patron, but the two agree on Malaysia's
\npolitical course.<\/p>\n
Anwar makes no secret of the fact that he is a Moslem and that
\nIslam must take a prominent place in Malaysia's political and
\nsocial life. But he is certainly no radical, as some observers
\nbelieve.<\/p>\n
Anwar categorically dismisses the common argument that
\ndemocracy is a western invention. Yet he preaches an "Asian
\nRenaissance", claiming Malaysia must shape its own form of
\ndemocracy from its own history and intellectual inheritance.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen if Mahathir is indeed ready for quieter
\ntimes. Yet his handover to Anwar unmistakably shows that he
\nconsiders his political course to be stable.<\/p>",
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