Imagine these conflicting accolades for one person a moderniser and a dictator, a visionary and a short-term tactician, a racist and father of the nation, a healer and a strongman. This is how history will regard Mahathir Mohammad! Love him or hate him, and there aren’t many in-between, anyone would be hard pressed to refute Mahathir’s fierce love for Malaysia.
| At this critical juncture for Pakistan, Imran Khan has a choice to make – does he follow the Mahathir of the past or the Mahathir of the present? |
In 2018, and as a 92-year-old, Mahathir again was elected as Prime Minister of Malaysia! In doing so he became the world’s oldest elected leader another feather in his cap. Starting back in 1964, his political career spans around 40 years, the biggest chunk of which was spent as Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003. Considering his long service towards Malaysia, why then is he such a divisive figure? And which Mahathir yesterday’s or today’s can be a good role model for Pakistan and Imran Khan? Consider the following hypothesis.
| No wonder that Mahathir has been a polarising figure, in the world generally and Malaysia specifically! For every person who loves him there is one who loathes him! |
Mahathir’s biggest achievement was to urgently transition Malaysia from a poor farming nation to an infrastructure led country. To many, he is known as the father of modernisation! This shift was also in line with the growing globalisation phenomenon of the late 80s and early 90s. That is how Mahathir became the poster-boy for the emerging Asian tigers, at the bottom end of the 20th century. Mahathir is also credited with privatising government enterprises, in certain cases loss-making ones, including airlines, utilities and telecommunications. This led to much desired governmental funds which resulted in elevating many compatriots above the poverty line. In addition, Mahathir worked diligently to shift Malaysia’s economy away from natural resources and agriculture and towards manufacturing and exports. This manifested in substantial job creation at a national level leading to a burgeoning middle class and subsequent economic success. The upshot? From 1988 to 1996, Malaysia grew by 8 percent and per capita income doubled from 1990 to 1996. Thus, the country experienced rapid economic growth under Mahathir because of the impact of globalisation, a bout of privatisation and recalibration of the economy. Looking ahead, and to turn Malaysia into a fully developed nation by 2020, in 1991 Mahathir released an economic plan called The Way Forward or Vision 2020.
In recent times, the 92-year Mahathir has acknowledged that his aggressive plans for Vision 2020 have failed. Unfortunately, this policy only became a mere reflection of the 90s where development was carried out based on an influx of foreign investment but couldn’t be sustained in the long run. In that, Vision 2020 was more rhetoric than reality. This laudable admission by Mahathir showcases perhaps his biggest failure of his first stint as Prime Minister. There are others though! Although Mahathir started as a moderate political figure but became increasingly more authoritarian with time. For this, the biggest tool at his disposal became the Internal Security Act which was passed in 1987. This allowed him to arrest activists and opponents, close down newspapers and harangue religious leaders. Mahathir also took on the judiciary, forced many high-ranking judges to resign and changed the Constitution to limit the powers of the Supreme Court. Cronyism and nepotism also made the headlines during his first tenure as PM culminating in the severely criticised rise of his son, Mukhriz. Mahathir’s ‘look-East’ policy may have been apt for the times but irked the Western world. This, in conjunction with banning of The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, meant that he had a trying relationship with at-least the US and UK.
| In recent times, the 92-year Mahathir has acknowledged that his aggressive plans for Vision 2020 have failed |
No wonder that Mahathir has been a polarising figure, in the world generally and Malaysia specifically! For every person who loves him there is one who loathes him! In contrast to the Mahathir of yesterday described above, the Mahathir of today is one who is more realistic, circumspect and has calmed down his ambitions for Malaysia and for himself. This is evidenced by the recently launched Shared Prosperity Vision 2030. Gone are the notions of grandeur, bigger-is-better and expansion at any cost. Instead, the level of focus is more down to earth! As the name suggests, the cornerstone of this endeavour is the policy of inclusiveness and the strategy of income inequality. Curbing of discrimination and corruption is also high on the agenda. For the first time, social well-being is being given the crucial important it deserves especially in an effort to be pluralistic in nature. There are plans to develop indices to measure unity, integrity and anti-corruption, harmony, public health, climate and environmental change. Realistic goals for poverty measurement and poverty alleviation are also enumerated. Now the emphasis is on a knowledge-based economy underpinned by technology, thus reducing the reliance on oil. On a political and personal front, and with Mahathir’s previous succession plans not working out too well, he has said that he doesn’t want to stick around for too long and would like a new generation of politicians to take over. Therefore, reducing but not eliminating the clamour of dynastic rule.
| Mahathir’s biggest achievement was to urgently transition Malaysia from a poor farming nation to an infrastructure led country |
Since coming to power, Imran Khan has repeatedly quoted Mahathir as a role model. Also, recently the Pakistani Prime Minister has said that both countries face similar set of challenges. At this critical juncture for Pakistan, Imran Khan has a choice to make does he follow the Mahathir of the past or the Mahathir of the present? Considering the evidence at hand and the aforementioned comparison, he will do well to follow in the footsteps of the Mahathir of today.
