Mahathir win no surprise

Mahathir win no surprise

Even before the results were announced many political analysts and observers had already reached the conclusion that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's National Front coalition was sure to win Malaysia's ninth general election.

This was predictable, because Mahathir and his government have provided the Malaysian people with much desired robust economic growth and political stability. For the past seven years Malaysia's economy has continued to flourish and has achieved a formidable record of more than eight percent annual growth.

What they did not predict, however, was that Mahathir and his coalition could sweep 162 of the 192 seats in the Dewan Rakyat (parliament) and retain a firm grip on 12 of the country's 13 states.

"This is our biggest victory since independence and many new records have been created," the jubilant 69-year-old Mahathir was quoted as saying moments after the results of the election were announced on Wednesday.

The landslide victory, obviously, shows the great trust the nine million voters have in Mahathir and his plan called "Vision 2020" which is expected to make Malaysia one of the world's industrialized countries by the turn of the century.

More importantly, however, is that the overwhelming win also signals the people's refusal of the racial and sectarian politics of the opposition, the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party, which won nine parliamentary seats, and the All-Malaysian Islamic Party, which got only seven seats.

This, again, shows that Malaysia's multi-ethnic population of 19 million, made up of 59 percent Malay, 32 percent Chinese and nine percent Indian, feels satisfied with what the country has achieved under Mahathir.

Under Mahathir's administration, the United Malay National Organization has taken steps to restrict the power of the monarchy. The position of king is rotated among hereditary rulers from nine of the country's 13 states.

Besides, the National Front coalition, which represents the different ethnic groups, seems to be the only political force that can ensure stability in the country.

Mahathir's New Development Plan, which signals a departure from the use of racial quotas to benefit the Malays as a basis for national development, acknowledges that many of the goals of the previous New Economic Policy, such as greater participation in the economy by Malays, have been achieved. Together with "Vision 2020", the new plan provides a blueprint for turning Malaysia into an advanced industrial nation by the year 2020.

In light of this, it was by no means exaggerating when political analysts commented that "the win was a victory for Mahathir and for his vision and not for the National Front coalition".

In fact, one of the National Front leaders, as was reported by the media, unveiled a plague which says "Well Done Mahathir".

It is understandable if the prime minister is so dominant and loved by his followers because he enhanced his reputation as spokesman of the Third World at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where he defended the policies of the developing countries and challenged the developed states to clean up their own environments.

Despite all the successes, Malaysia will unavoidably face challenges in the years ahead, such as possible stalled growth due to bottlenecks created by poor infrastructure.

Judging from Mahathir's performance thus far, however, we are fully confident that Kuala Lumpur will be able to tackle all the problems well, including the eventual transfer of power to their younger generation of leaders, considering that Malaysia already has a well established democratic system.