Unceremonious end to Mahathir Mohamed’s political career

Almost forgotten after a week

In the wash-up of GE15, the defeat of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed in his seat of Langkawi has taken a back seat to other events. Mahathir only manged 4,566 votes in his re-election bid, losing out against Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, a PAS cleric, who obtained a 13,518 vote majority. Mahathir also lost his deposit paid to the Electoral Commission.  Salt was added to his wounds, when his son Muhkriz Mahathir also lost his deposit in the neighbouring seat of Jerlun.

125 candidates contesting under Mahathir’s Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) also, all lost their deposits, leaving a deep personal humiliation, in contrast to his glorified return to power in the 2018 election.  

Perhaps, Mahathir didn’t heed the lesson of quitting at the right time. He took lots of criticism for his decision to contest. Even the polls predicted Pejuang’s poor performance.

Mahathir could have passed the reigns onto others, and remained the mentor. However, it certainly looks like Pejuang has wound up on the scrapheap of Malaysian politics, without ever getting off the ground.

This is not a review of Mahathir’s political life. I wrote such an article more than a year ago.

Mahathir’s Shattered Legacy

When Lim Kit Siang announced his retirement just a few months ago, there was a deluge of testimonies about him. Not the case to Mahathir, this time round. Even his staunch loyalists appear to have abandoned him and moved on.

What more, there is no one from his family left in parliament able to carry on what could have been called his legacy. Mahathir’s political influence has appeared to have ended with his defeat in Langkawi.

At 97, this definitely ends Mahathir’s seven decade political career. Mahathir was responsible as an UMNO Young Turk in the early 1970s for the fall of Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, and the institution of the New Economic Policy (NEP). He Islamized the education system and civil service. Encouraged the development of Ketuanan Melayu, while at the same time belittling Malays with the myth of the lazy Malay.

Mahathir also developed Kleptonomics, in an attempt to create Malay billionaires, who would help others rise. This didn’t happen. He developed a network of UMNO businesses lacking in transparency, which was the forerunner to the 1MDB financial crisis, which caught out Najib Razak, and landed him into jail.

Most ironic is that Mahathir’s nemesis Anwar Ibrahim rose during the same election Mahathir had his undignified exit from politics, to become Malaysia’s 10th prime minister. Anwar, was imprisoned by Mahathir, after sodomy charges were laid against him in 1998. Anwar had been prevented from becoming Malaysia’s prime minister for two decades.

The political events of today have so quickly passed Mahathir by. He no longer appears to have any relevance. Its now up to historians to make sense of Mahathir’s career in years to come.

One thing is for certain, Mahathir’s Islamization of education and government have created deep issues which must be dealt with if Malaysia is to be prevented from becoming an extremist nation. Malaysia appears to be divided, preventing true nationhood.

Mahathir still has his Perdana Foundation. He says he will now turn to writing, and other activities, particularly Malaysian history.

Subscribe Below: