[Global Focus] 'Economic Revival' Card Amid National Founder and Dictator Assessments... 97-Year-Old Mahathir Aiming for Return to Power

Rapid National Economic Growth During Tenure
From Agricultural Nation to Car Manufacturing Power
Criticism Over Suppression by Opposition Media
Declaration for Next Month's 15th General Election

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, at the age of 97, has announced his candidacy for the upcoming general election scheduled for next month. Former Prime Minister Mahathir is hailed as the 'Father of the Nation' of Malaysia for elevating the country from a backward agricultural nation to a major trading power.

Recently, former Brazilian President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva (Lula) gained popularity by stirring nostalgia for economic revival. Attention is focused on whether former Prime Minister Mahathir can become the next prime minister, fueled by the public's desire for economic growth.

On the 11th (local time), former Prime Minister Mahathir held a press conference and expressed his intention to run in the 15th general election. Regarding the next prime minister, he said, "Our party must win to become prime minister, but nothing has been decided yet."

◆Contribution to Malaysia's Economic Growth

Mahathir, formerly a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), transformed into an opposition leader after joining the movement demanding the resignation of his political prot?g?, former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was embroiled in allegations of embezzling trillions of won in slush funds in 2015.

Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of embezzling funds through the state-owned investment company ‘1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad)’ established for economic development during his tenure. He allegedly siphoned off $4.5 billion (about 5.2 trillion won) through SRC, a subsidiary of 1MDB, after attracting domestic and foreign capital secured by Malaysia’s oil. He is also accused of approving government guarantees for large loans to SRC and receiving 42 million ringgit (about 12.5 billion won) in commissions transferred to his bank account via intermediaries.

Following this incident, Mahathir demanded Najib’s resignation and was expelled from the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), switching to the opposition leadership.

Later, Mahathir joined the new opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) and led it to victory in the 2018 general election, achieving a regime change for the first time in 61 years since Malaysia’s independence from Britain. However, in 2020, amid internal conflicts within the ruling party, Mahathir resigned as prime minister in a political calculation to seek the king’s confidence but failed to regain it.

Mahathir is credited with rapidly growing Malaysia’s economy during his tenure. He implemented the ‘Look East’ policy, learning from Japan and South Korea, and the ‘Wawasan 2020’ (Vision 2020) policy aiming to elevate Malaysia to a developed country by 2020, transforming the agricultural poor nation into an economic powerhouse producing steel and automobiles.

Malaysia’s GDP, which was only $25 billion (about 27 trillion won) in 1981, surged to $110 billion by 2003. Additionally, to reduce public debt exceeding 80% of GDP, he halted large infrastructure projects and shifted economic policies toward easing the burden on ordinary citizens.

During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, he refused the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s bailout conditions of austerity and neoliberalism, choosing independent recovery, which was well-received. At that time, to prevent capital flight, he imposed up to a 30% exit tax on investment returns withdrawn from the Malaysian stock market and applied a fixed exchange rate system to the ringgit. The IMF praised these as "very practical and flexible policies of adjustment and complement."

◆Criticism for Developmental Dictatorship and Bumiputera Favoritism

On the other hand, Mahathir has been criticized as a developmental dictator for his iron-fisted rule suppressing opposition and media against his will. He argued that "some developing countries need better dictators than Western-style democracy to respond to globalization challenges," prioritizing authoritarianism-based economic growth over democracy.

During his 22 years in power, he implemented the ‘Bumiputera’ policy favoring the Malay ethnic group to build a strong support base, discriminating against the Chinese and Indian communities who control 80% of Malaysia’s wealth. ‘Bumiputera’ refers to the indigenous Malays of Malaysia. Mahathir’s pro-Malay policies are cited as a cause of the current large-scale emigration of Chinese talent overseas.

Furthermore, his party, the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM), founded in 2015, has been criticized as a racist party for its rule that only Malays, who make up 50.1% of Malaysia’s population, can be members.

◆Stirring Nostalgia for Economic Revival?

Following Mahathir’s announcement to run in this election, foreign media have immediately focused on his chances of returning to power. If he becomes prime minister again, he will be the oldest head of state worldwide. Some predict that, like former President Lula, he could once again become prime minister by stirring Malaysians’ aspirations for economic development.

Former President Lula is known for breaking elitism, raising minimum wages, and increasing taxes on the wealthy, reducing Brazil’s poverty population by 40 million by overcoming polarization. On the 2nd, he advanced to the runoff in Brazil’s presidential election, defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

However, there are also views that Mahathir may find it difficult to gain strong support from voters as he did in the 2018 general election. This is because his party, PPBM, has a weak support base among non-Malaysians.

Mahathir is also targeting former Prime Minister Najib in this election. Najib, currently detained, still wields political influence. He is undergoing several other trials related to 1MDB, and if found guilty, his sentence could be extended.

Regarding this, Mahathir criticized, "If they (Barisan Nasional (BN)) win this election, their first move will be to ask the king to pardon Najib. Their first goal is to form a government through their victory rather than the welfare of the people."

◆How Will the Malaysian General Election Be Conducted?

Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy where the nine rulers of the Malay Peninsula states take turns serving as king for a five-year term. The prime minister is usually appointed by the king from the leader of the party with the most confidence in the majority. Therefore, the general election is not just a parliamentary election but also has the character of a presidential election deciding who will hold the next power, similar to South Korea. The parliamentary term is basically five years, but this is the maximum term, and if the prime minister requests the king to dissolve parliament, an early general election is held. The king can refuse the prime minister’s request to dissolve parliament.

After Mahathir announced his resignation in 2020, his party, PPBM, withdrew from Pakatan Harapan (PH). Subsequently, Muhyiddin Yassin was appointed as the next prime minister, leading to the formation of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government. However, Muhyiddin resigned in August last year, taking responsibility for the failure in COVID-19 control.

Then, the king appointed Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a member of UMNO, the majority party within Barisan Nasional (BN), as the new prime minister, returning BN to the ruling party position. Prime Minister Ismail decided to dissolve the 14th parliament, which was due to expire in July next year, to hold an early general election.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.