Twenty years in office: Mahathir Mohamad

By Karim Raslan

KUALA LUMPUR: Monday marks Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 20th year in office. After two decades as Prime Minister, the Kedah-born doctor continues to shock and to amaze -- often simultaneously.

The 76 year old Premier has never shied away from controversy. Only last month at the opening of the annual UMNO General Assembly, Mahathir presented the delegates with yet another vintage performance as he lambasted the Malay community for their failings and then derided the opposition.

In an era when politicians the world over are obsessed with "wooing" the electorate -- with spin-doctors and pollsters -- Mahathir -- much like his sparring partner Singapore Senior Minister, Lee Kuan Yew -- bucks the trend.

Throwing caution to the wind Mahthir chose to make a bruising frontal assault on the Malay psyche, outraging many in the audience.

Having observed and written about the PM for my entire adult life -- I first interviewed him for my university newspaper some 18 years ago - I have come to realize that despite his paradoxical nature the man himself can be utterly predictable. And the key to comprehending his mercurial and at times frighteningly aggressive personality lies in recognizing the forces that drive the man as well his current priorities.

But to start with let's look at two key aspects of Mahathir's political persona. The first is the intensity of his passions (a quality that distinguishes him from anyone else in UMNO politics with the sole exception of Anwar Ibrahim) and the second is his surprising ability to compromise.

Mahathir's grand passion -- the uplifting of the Malay community -- has never distracted him from the need to preserve stability at the national level.

This accounts for the remarkable way in which he has won over the support of the Chinese community whilst still brandishing his colors as a Malay "ultra".

In essence, he will do the "deal" with anyone as long as he and his vision for the Malay community prevail. In this respect we should not underestimate his ability to surprise and confound. In the past, he has welcomed back bitter personal enemies such as Tengku Razaleigh, compromised with the Chinese language NGO Suqui and even offered to relinquish Bumiputra educational quotas for university entrance.

Mahathir is a man with a mission. Back in the 1940s and 1950s he identified the importance of overcoming the Malay backwardness.

From very early on he was keenly aware of the humiliating position of the Malays, as mere tenants in the own land: beggars at the colonial feast. At the time he singled out the community's predilection for superstition and the crippling impact of feudalism and fatalism. After half a century of cajoling and criticizing as well as the intervention of the New Economic Policy there is no doubt that these challenges have been overcome: the dilemma that he first identified has been resolved.

Trumpeting the importance of education and knowledge, Mahathir has been unflagging in his devotion to the alleviating the Malay poverty and ignorance. This is a consistent theme in all his work, culminating in his work on the New Economic Policy after he succeeded Tun Hussein Onn in 1981.

His journalism (beginning with his articles in the late 1940s when he first contributed commentaries under the pseudonym Che Det), his speeches and his interviews have always focused on Malays.

Nonetheless, in recent years his implementation of the NEP has drawn considerable criticism. He has been attacked for the way he has emphasized Bumiputra/Malay wealth accumulation at the expense of income inequality.

Many economists have argued that he has devoted far too much of nation's precious resources in trying to create a cadre of Malay entrepreneurs.

As with all conviction politicians Mahathir has scant concern for his critics. He has always sought to implement his vision regardless of the political consequences. However, at times the fall-out has been severe -- if not devastating.

The civil society agenda and all forms of participatory politics have been at the receiving end of his withering scorn, leaving the judiciary (until recently), the civil service and the media emasculated.

However in recent years the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) has presented a potent challenge to the modernist Malay agenda and the Prime Minister is all too aware of the opposition's strength within the community. It has become clear since the 1999 election that the Malays are willing to make a radical volte-face.

Angered by the United Malay National Organization and its leaders, many in the community have turned their backs on the party. Moreover UMNO has lost the high moral ground since Anwar Ibrahim debacle. Lacking the moral authority of the past, both the party and Mahathir are now facing a major intellectual threat that could lead to the nation's transformation.

PAS wishes to dismantle what they consider to be UMNO's secular administration with an avowedly Islamic government. Mahathir for his part, sees the full-scale imposition of the shariah and the dominant role of the ulema as a dead-end for the Malay community.

Clearly his blue-print, Vision 2020, would not survive such a transition. By way of comparison, the political schism with Tengku Razaleigh's Semangat 46 in the late 1980s, was personal. Today's rift is ideological.

Given the disunity within the Malay community, the PM has launched his attack on PAS with his customary vigor, and as with Lady Thatcher age has not mellowed his customary rage and indignation.

So to protect and then ensure the survival of his legacy and prevent PAS from winning power, Mahathir may well end up having to do a "deal". He will need to co-opt and win over figures from the opposition and bolster those within the administration who possess sufficient credibility in terms of Islam.

In many ways he has already done this. Abdullah Badawi's (the only senior UMNO leader with impeccable Islamic credentials) position as his anointed successor reveals the Premier's willingness to change course in mid-stream, taking on a man who had been an adversary in the past.

Increasingly we will find that his energies and UMNO resources will be directed at tackling PAS' mounting strength. He will do whatever it takes to secure UMNO's future -- his intensity and passion will ensure that -- but his survival instincts will mean that compromise cannot be ruled out.

For Mahathir the challenges of 2001 are not dissimilar to those of 1969.

He continues to see events through the prism of his own experiences. As far as he is concerned the Malay community is in jeopardy and he must fight to save his beloved people from PAS if not themselves.

For Malaysia and Malaysians the questions are simpler and less dramatic. When will he relinquish his hold over the nation? Will his passions cloud his judgment? Can the nation withstand another bout of Mahathir's brinkmanship? Are his solutions still valid in the new millennia? Is it too late? Have the Malays already changed?

Finally, can he heal the deep rift within the ummah (the Muslim congregation) or will he merely exacerbate the divide?

The writer is a lawyer and columnist in Kuala Lumpur.