Mahathir wins praise but comment on Jews still rankles
Mahathir wins praise but comment on Jews still rankles
Vijay Joshi, Associated Press, Bangkok
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad left office on Friday with compliments from around the world tempered by advice to tone down his trademark outspokenness in retirement.
Mahathir, 77, went out in a typically combative style by raising a controversy earlier this month with comments about alleged Jewish dominance of the world that riled the United States, Australia and much of Europe but made him a hero in the Muslim and Arab world.
"We won't shed a tear on his leaving," said Avi Pazner, an Israeli government spokesman, expressing hopes that "our relations with Malaysia will improve now that he's left."
Others were less harsh in judging Mahathir, who transformed Malaysia from a tin and rubber producing backwater to an industrial powerhouse during 22 years at the helm and brought stability to his multiethnic country.
"Ever a complex man, Dr. Mahathir's energy and vision, but not his prejudices, will be missed," The Guardian newspaper of London said in an editorial.
The most effusive praise came from Malaysian newspapers. The New Straits Times published a 96-page special tribute to Mahathir while The Star said in a front page-editorial: "Truly, this man has been a father to us."
Tributes also flowed in editorials around the world, including Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Singapore. Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the Arab world's two most popular television stations, broadcast live Mahathir's retirement ceremony on Friday.
"It will be hard to conceive of a neighborhood without him. Correction -- make that a world stage," said Singapore's Straits Times.
Indonesia's Jakarta Post newspaper praised Mahathir for showing the world that it is possible for a non-Western country to manage an orderly succession.
But if Mahathir were to continue his outbursts even in retirement, then he would gradually come to "be regarded as an aging old man who has become a political nuisance," the Post said.
Unwilling to make a concession to Mahathir's retiree status, Australian Prime Minister John Howard refused to comment when asked if he had a last message for the man whose acerbic tongue has often lashed out against Australia.
"I don't have any comments to make," Howard told radio station 3AW, but said the links forged by 200,000 Malaysians educated in Australian universities would be "more productive ... than the contribution made by heads of government."
Mahathir's record has also been marred by what critics say was his autocratic style that crushed all political opponents including one-time deputy Anwar Ibrahim.
The Nation newspaper of Thailand said Mahathir's retirement has left a vacancy for the job of regional statesman but warned that Southeast Asia does not need a Mahathir clone with a "totalitarian bent."
"Although Malaysians are richer today, they are not necessarily freer," it said.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon-turned- politician who is credited with turning around Thailand's economy in the last two years, has been touted as a replacement for Mahathir.
But critics say Thaksin lacks Mahathir's experience, bluntness and his credentials as a champion of Third World causes.
The government of Thailand, Malaysia's northern neighbor with which it has had prickly border and trade relations, is confident Mahathir's departure will not affect bilateral ties, spokesman Sita Divari said.