The Malaysian Malaise: Excerpt #2: Mahathir - Back To His Wily Self

 The Malaysian Malaise: Corrupt Leadership, Failing Institutions, And Intolerant Islamism

M. Bakri Musa © 2023

Excerpt #2: Mahathir - Back To His Old Wily Self

At age 93, the understanding was that when Mahathir became Prime Minister for the second time following the routing of the ruling Barisan Government in the May 2018 General Elections, he would retire in two years time. That would pave the way for Anwar Ibrahim, who was then still in prison on trumped-up charges of sodomy, to succeed Mahathir. Yes, unlike the rest of the world, Malaysia still has such archaic statutes in her books! With the new coalition’s victory, its acknowledged leader Anwar Ibrahim was expected to be pardoned and thus able to return to active politics to assume leadership of the nation. That was agreed upon by members of the coalition going into the election.

     Then suddenly and quite unexpectedly in February 2020 Mahathir resigned. By right, his then Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azzizah should have taken over, as per the usual process as well as the constitution. Fearful that she would give way to her husband Anwar Ibrahim, who by now had been pardoned and subsequently elected to Parliament, Mahathir did what he thought was a shrewd move. He concocted a back-door scheme, dubbed the Sheraton Move (named after the hotel where the political horse-trading took place), where the Agong would select the cancer-stricken Muhyiddin Yassin to take over.

The Agong was satisfied, following a parade of MPs who were summoned to the Palace with their statutory declarations in hand purportedly supporting Muhyiddin. To the Agong, the constitutional requirement of having the Prime Minister command the majority of Parliament had been met by that unusual maneuver. In fact it had been circumvented, or more correctly, manipulated.

      He was confused, ignorant, badly advised or just purposely chose to ignore the reality that decisions made in private, statutory declarations in hand notwithstanding, can never replace one taken following open robust parliamentary debates. That should have been the sole criterion.

The Agong should have instead let Deputy Prime Minister Azzizah assume the leadership as per protocol, and then let Parliament decide in a subsequent formal resolution whether she commanded the confidence of the House. That should have been the proper procedure. Group dynamics can and do affect decisions quickly and often dramatically even at the last minute.

     Like all backroom deals, this Sheraton Move too did not last. Twenty-two months later Muhyiddin was outmaneuvered again by another dark backroom scheming, to be replaced by another clueless character, this time from UMNO, Ismail Sabri. With the next election scheduled no later than September 2023, and with the coming flood season making elections impractical, this character could probably survive till then. Not that it would make any difference.

     Meanwhile Malaysia’s downward spiral continued. Using the ringgit as a surrogate indicator, it fell to its lowest level ever vis a vis the US dollar, trading on September 28, 2022 at RM4.63. I wonder what happened to those five “wise eminent persons” tasked with advising Mahathir!

     Ever the schemer, Mahathir was still not yet finished or satisfied. Leading yet another splinter party, Gerakan Tanah Air (lit. Motherland Action Party), and not content with the wreckage he had already inflicted upon Malaysia, he again offered himself to be Prime Minister. He will be 98 should he survive till the next election due no later than September 2023. He was not satisfied to have bequeathed upon Malaysia the likes of Abdullah Badawi, Najib Razak, Muhyiddin Yassin, and now Ismail Sabri. He wanted to add more to the pantheon of corrupt, incompetent Malay leaders. That is, if Malaysians were to let him. The glimmer of hope is that voters would have a chance to end Mahathir’s latest delusion come the next election.

Next: Excerpt #3: Poster Boy For Term Limits