Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was enjoying a surge in influence as a new administration prepared to take power, pundits who fear a return to hardline “Mahathirism” said.
The grand old man of Malaysian politics endured a humiliating exile from the circles of power after stepping down in 2003, as he was punished for feuding with his hand-picked successor Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Mahathir, still feisty despite his 83 years and a string of heart problems, was outraged by the dismantling of his pet projects and seemingly made it his mission to bring down the mild-mannered Abdullah.
Last month he declared victory as the unpopular prime minister was forced to announce he would depart in March in favor of Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, whom Mahathir had publicly championed for the top job.
“The country is witnessing the return of Mahathirism with the former prime minister seen as having become the single most powerful and influential individual” in the ruling party, opposition veteran Lim Kit Siang said.
He said Mahathir was transformed from a troublemaker to a “king-maker” the moment Abdullah caved in, after months of turmoil in the wake of disastrous general election results.
During his years in the wilderness, Mahathir complained the ruling party had ordered the government-linked press not to air his views and said it had even leaned on organizations to withdraw invitations for him to events.
But as the power balance shifted, Mahathir has been brought back into the fold of the United Malays National Organization, which leads the coalition — feted at party events and once again reveling in media attention.
Now there are rumblings that some of the worst aspects of his two-decade rule — repression, media censorship and the use of draconian internal security laws — could be revived.
“Najib’s policies will mirror those of Mahathir’s,” said Zaid Ibrahim, a Cabinet minister who resigned in September and who saw the hand of the new administration in a recent rash of detentions under internal security laws.
“Abdullah doesn’t have that in him. On his own he would not have done it, so he must be under tremendous pressure.Those measures taken are an indication of what’s to come,” he said.
Zaid, a maverick figure who quit the Cabinet after being blocked from cleaning up the judiciary and police, said that Abdullah’s mild approach had allowed a measure of freedom in Malaysia.
“It is true that he has not done much to effect the reforms that he talked about, but Abdullah did give the space — there’s a certain openness, people do express a lot more — and it will be a loss if we go back to the old ways,” Zaid said.
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