Mahathir's long, dark shadow
By Michael Vatikiotis
KOTA BHARU, Malaysia - There's something wrong with former Malaysian prime
minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Why else would a man who led his country to such great economic heights, and in
the process established global stature for himself as a spokesman for the
developing world, try to tear it all down in retirement? Yet this is what many
Malaysians fear will be the result of a bitter feud that has raged for much of
the past
year between the octogenarian former premier and his hand-picked successor
Abdullah Badawi.
Malaysia, like Thailand and to some extent Indonesia, is only superficially
modern. Beneath the thin veneer of glass and steel that sheaths the sleek
office towers in Kuala Lumpur, a largely traditional society grapples with the
impact of globalization. Outsiders often misunderstand modern Malaysian
society, which is still organized along the ethnic boundaries created more than
a century ago when Chinese laborers, Indian estate workers and Malay villagers
were thrown together in a fast-growing colonial economy built to supply the
world with tin and rubber.
Many aspects of tradition are covered over by the modern material gloss of
capitalism and breakneck economic development, but one conspicuous enduring
characteristic is the tendency of people here to respect their leaders.
Successful legitimate leadership, as Mahathir's 22-year tenure demonstrated,
endows great power on the individual in all of Malaysia's component societies.
That respect for leadership has made advances in modern democratic governance
more difficult is not disputed; that it helps keep a fractured, multi-ethnic
society on an even keel is often forgotten in the rush to criticize Malaysia's
overbearing ruling coalition, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
It's not that father knows best, it's more that father will arbitrate quarrels
and make sure that everyone gets along.
So when leadership is challenged, as is now the case with Mahathir unleashing
almost daily public criticism against Abdullah, the entire country comes to a
standstill and fear stalks the land. Politicians don't know to whom to turn,
business isn't sure when government decisions will be made or, if they are,
that they will be honored, and the rest of society fears the fallout from a
power struggle.
This would explain why Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was recently
forced to call publicly on the government to stay focused. When asked if the
government was losing its way, Najib, who is first in line to succeed Abdullah
Badawi, replied: "We will have to manage. This is unprecedented. It is not
something that we have experienced before."
Sadly, Abdullah's government has lost its focus, and Malaysia is slipping out
of sight in the region - and Mahathir's myopia is largely to blame. Abdullah
came to power in 2002 on the hopes of both measured change and continued
political stability. The last years of Mahathir's 22-year tenure were colored
by rancor and division after the ignominious sacking and jailing of his
controversial deputy Anwar Ibrahim, who cut a reformist profile and challenged
Mahathir's judgment in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
UMNO, which Mahathir led for two decades, started to lose ground, and there
were fears of another state falling at the ballot box to the opposition Islamic
Party of Malaysia, commonly known as PAS from its Malay name Parti Islam
SeMalaysia. Fed up with the carping and sniping by disgruntled UMNO members, a
tearful Mahathir suddenly and unexpectedly threw in the towel, leaving the
premiership to a man everyone knew was never Mahathir's first or even second
choice - something Mahathir has now said publicly.
Muddled motivations
Then why did Mahathir pick Abdullah as his successor? Perhaps Mahathir expected
Abdullah to falter at the start of his tenure, and the party rank and file
would come running to him with apologies and pleas for his return. Instead,
Abdullah and his reform message were warmly welcomed by Malaysians weary of
Mahathir's polarizing politics.
There was a palpable collective desire to be free of all the brow-beating about
failure to achieve; to be rid of all the extravagance and wastage that came
with such ambitious vanity projects as the world's tallest towers, biggest dam
and a new administrative capital that nobody wanted or wishes to live in. After
years of Malaysia taking on the developed world and divisive factional
infighting at the top of the party, Malaysians were happy to be governed by a
soft-spoken, gentlemanly figure who lived by religious values and preached
tolerance.
Abdullah does not pretend to be charismatic, nor does he project himself as the
font of all wisdom. Instead, he brought with him a group of young Malaysians
with new ideas about how to rid the ruling party of corruption, eradicate
corporate cronyism, and manage the role of Islam in society. Mostly the
children of diplomats and successful business people, this group of younger
politicians represent some of the brightest and most idealistic Malaysians to
enter government in years.
The change has been wrenching but also refreshing. Corporate favor-seekers
found themselves turned away from the Prime Minister's Office; there were new
ideas for attacking corruption in public service; a commission to check the
Malaysian police was established. Abdullah's own ideas on civilizational Islam,
or Islam Hadhari, struck a chord domestically and internationally.
The opposition PAS lost significant ground in democratic elections. At the 2004
elections, Abdullah won a record landslide victory, increasing the number of
ruling-coalition seats in parliament by 50 at the expense of PAS, which almost
lost control of its power base in the northeastern state of Kelantan.
Yet Abdullah's trouble with cleaner politics is that so much of the economy has
long ridden along rails of patronage. The reforms his government steered hit
bumps in the road early and resistance to change has since been strong.
Root-and-branch reform threatened to upset the political apple cart and affect
Abdullah's support inside UMNO. He managed to remove a state party chief from
Melaka, but his anti-corruption campaign got no further. Critics started to
talk about the hollowness of Abdullah's reforms and the slow pace of
transformation.
Fine political lines
Then Abdullah apparently crossed the line. By abruptly canceling the
construction of a bridge that would have replaced part of the fixed causeway
between Singapore and Malaysia, Abdullah angered his former boss. For Mahathir,
the so-called crooked bridge was a pet project, one that stood to benefit many
of his former close allies and cronies.
At first it seemed easy to dismiss Mahathir's attacks. Having decided not to
assume a special-mentor ministerial position in government like his old
sparring partner in Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir held only senior advisory
positions in the public corporate sector. Abdullah refused to be drawn into
crossing swords, and the Malaysian public, perhaps sensing the irony, was not
moved by Mahathir's complaints.
Yet Malaysia's peculiar political culture has worked against Abdullah. The more
Mahathir carped with impunity, including allegations that Abdullah has favored
his own family members in government business deals, the more people started to
question his strength in the party. Malay politics in particular thrives on
tricks and treachery, and it is always assumed that loyalty has a price.
Mahathir still has powerful friends in high places, many of whom are unhappy
about the new political climate, often referred to here as "cronyism lite".
Factor in the growing deep resentment of Abdullah's young stallions, champing
at the bit to change everything and make their own political marks.
Mahathir, who presided over and shaped Malaysia's political culture for more
than two decades, knows this all too well. So long as he keeps up the attacks
on Abdullah, there will be those who question the prime minister's vitality.
Close friends say Mahathir's health is faltering because of a cardiac
condition, but that he would rather go out with a bang than sit at home and
wallow in failing health.
Unfortunately for Abdullah, he doesn't have a venal personality, and all
indications are that he would rather shake hands with his opponents and move
on. He built his own political career on an ability to pick himself up, dust
off defeat and keep moving forward. Now that he has failed to fend off
Mahathir's attacks effectively, the vultures are starting to circle, smelling
political death in the air.
Many Malaysians sense that the country is paralyzed by an atmosphere of
political malaise. Abdullah's domestic reform program has ground to a halt.
Ambitious ideas to project Abdullah's unique ideas on Islamic tolerance on to a
world stage and contribute to peace in the Middle East have evaporated.
Malaysia's profile as a stable, successful and modern Muslim nation has
suffered because the Mahathir quarrel has been magnified overseas, raising
fears of potential political instability.
The annual UMNO assembly is set for this month, at which the party faithful
will all endorse the leadership they depend upon for patronage. At the same
time, Mahathir's long, dark shadow will hang over the gathering. There will be
jokes in the corridors, ribbing about who is loyal to whom, while Mahathir's
supporters leak more poison into the system. It is the UMNO way, with
jocularity and politeness masking more than a grain of truth.
Michael Vatikiotis is former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review.
He is currently a visiting research fellow at Singapore's Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies.
