Lynchpin of politics

Love him or hate him, but you can't ignore Mahathir Mohamad who, at the ripe age of 97, still remains the pivot around which Malaysian politics revolves. On last Tuesday, when the Federal Court convicted former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to a 12-year prison sentence on charges related to a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Mahathir sitting at his house in Kedah must be wondering what happened in his long political journey that he had to send his two protégées to jail. The first one was his long-serving deputy minister Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar was groomed by Mahathir to take over him. Anwar often alluded in public to his "son-father" relationship with Mahathir who even appointed him as acting prime minister in 1997 when he took a two-month holiday. But his relationship with Najib was different, as Mahathir owes his rise in Malaysian politics to Najib's family. Najib hails from the so-called Kennedy family of Malaysia, as his father Abdul Razak and his uncle Hussein Onn had served as prime ministers. Moreover, it was late Abdul Razak who resurrected Mahathir's political career after he was expelled from the United Malays National Organisation following his strong disagreement with the then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. After his ouster from UMNO, Mahathir became a fierce critic of Abdul Rahman's policies and wrote the famous 'The Malay Dilemma' which was banned because it contained criticism of Abdul Rahman's government. Most Malaysian political commentators say Mahathir's relentless attack was the main cause of Abdul Rahman's downfall and his subsequent resignation in 1970. It was Abdul Razak who took over as the next prime minister, and initiated Mahathir's political rehabilitation in the UMNO. Mahathir rose quickly in the party and the Razak government to become a member of the UMNO's supreme council as also the education minister in the Razak cabinet. When Abdul Razak died in 1976, his brother-in-law Hussein Onn took over, and appointed Mahathir as his deputy despite open differences with him. In July 1981, when Hussein Onn resigned due to health issues, Mahathir replaced him. During Mahathir's 22-year rule, Najib very quickly became a part of his government. First, he served as the education minister and then the defence minister. In 2003, when Mahathir quit, Najib became new prime minister Abdullah Badawi's deputy. However, it is an open secret that Mahathir's choice was Najib Razak. So, when in Abdullah's second term after the 2008 general elections, UMNO returned to power with a reduced majority, Mahathir launched a campaign against Abdullah — calling for him to be replaced by Najib Razak. In July 2008, Abdullah resigned and when Najib was named his successor he created a history of sorts, with both father and son holding the post of prime minister.

However, Najib's tenure was marred with allegations of corruption and mismanagement. His ambitious project 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) turned out to be the biggest corruption scandal in history. The 1MDB fund which was supposed to kickstart Malaysia's economic development was allegedly misused by Najib and his cronies for personal use.

This again brought back Mahathir to active politics. This time around, Mahathir not only called for Najib's resignation but also cobbled a rainbow alliance by triggering defection in the ruling UMNO, joining hands with former political foe Anwar Ibrahim who he had sacked and jailed on charges of sodomy, and joining hands with Malaysian Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP). In the 2018 general elections, Mahathir-led Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) created a Malaysian Spring of sorts when it ousted the UMNO-led Barison Nasional which had ruled Malaysia since 1957.

During Mahathir's second term as the prime minister in 2018, dozens of criminal charges against Najib for corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust were launched. When Lady Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, rejected Najib's appeal for a stay on sentence, Mahathir's second protégée was sent to jail.

This is the reason why many political obit writers have refrained from writing about Mahathir riding into the sunset as they know that the words like 'hanging his boots' or 'retirement' do not exist in his vocabulary. Whether in power or otherwise, Mahathir remains a significant force in Malaysian mainstream politics.

The writer has worked on senior editorial positions for many renowned international publications. Views expressed are personal