POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Mahathir Modifies Retirement Plan

By Baradan Kuppusamy Reprint | | Print |

Analysis by Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 15 2005 (IPS) - After ruling the roost with an iron grip for 22 years, few Malaysians really believed that former prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad would call it a day, handover power to a successor and leave the political stage he so dominated.

Isn’t power addictive? Can he really give it all up? Can he survive a day away from the seat of power? His unbelieving critics were stumped when Mahathir did exactly what they doubted – step down in one of the most peaceful and smoothest transition of power in the world.

The doctor left in a blaze of glory in November 2003, his political enemies in jail, his handpicked successor in charge and his loyalists everywhere – in government, academia, media and the armed services – and most important of all, his legacy valued, protected, and hopefully advanced.

But now, hardly a year-and-half after exiting and promising not to interfere in the way his successor Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi runs the show, he is back with his trademark headline grabbing criticism. This time the tongue lashing is, shockingly, not against Jews, neo- colonialists or the United States but his own handpicked successor government.

The sharp criticism at a specially called two-hour press conference here earlier this month has shaken up the political establishment and business circles, especially foreign investors who have long demanded transparency and political hands-off in business decisions.

It is clear that Mahathir has returned to national politics," said an academic who declined to be named. ”He has been festering in retirement watching the new government going about dismantling his legacy.”

He told IPS: ”Dr Mahathir left the government with a large deficit, trade barriers all around, mega construction projects that were sucking up the public funds and huge subsidies that protected his cronies.”

”Abdullah has to face reality – he has cancelled some of the giant projects, cut back on fuel subsidy, removed some of the protectionist trade barriers under which Malaysian crony companies thrive,” the academic said. ”But when it concerned Proton, Dr Mahathir came charging back.”

Mahathir started Proton, his pet automobile project, a year after becoming Prime Minister in 1982 and sees it as a cornerstone of his development policies to turn the country into a manufacturing hub in Asia.

At a widely reported press conference on Jul 6, Mahathir charged that his successor was on the one hand undoing his protectionist measures and on the other not doing enough to protect and nurture Proton.

He charged that the government has permitted cheap imports from South Korea, India and China that was killing Proton, whose share of the 350,000-a-year passenger car market had shrunk by about 50 percent since his reitrement.

Especially worrisome for Proton is the entry of China-made cars – Chevy Alado, a four-door compact that made its debut in April. Two other Chinese manufacturers, the Geely Group and Dadi Automobile Industry, have also tied up with Malaysian companies to bring in their vehicles.

Mahathir had resisted Chinese imports allegedly because the Chinese government made it difficult for Proton to enter the Chinese market.

The former premier also alleged that illegal parallel imports, permitted by the government, were also contributing to Proton’s demise by flooding the markets with cheap foreign models.

He said an officially sanctioned syndicate was under-declaring foreign cars and killing Proton and causing massive tax loses to the public.

Mahathir, who is adviser to Proton and national oil corporation Petronas, warned that "Proton is still young" and needs active government support to survive.

”We are competing with giants all over the world. We produce 200,000 cars or so (a year), but the giants produce millions of cars. It will take us a little bit more time to compete with them,” he said.

”Proton is protected simply because Proton has a job to do, that is to say, it has to build up the automotive engineering capability of Malaysia,”Mahathir said.

”If Proton is allowed to close down, so will the network of component and parts vendors that it supports resulting in up to 25,000 jobs lost,” he warned.

Political analysts say there is more to Mahathir’s attempted return than just to protecting Proton.

Since taking over in November 2003 Abdullah has slowly but slowly but surely introduced changes in government and society.

He has given more clout to parliament and the civil service to make people-centered decisions. He has de-linked businessmen and cronies from the executive branch of the government giving government-controlled companies room to make business decisions without political interference.

Abdullah is giving added emphasis to agriculture and fisheries, health and welfare all of which, during Mahathir’s rule, suffered for lack of government attention and resources.

He is shifting economic focus from high technology, construction driven growth to agriculture, modernizing fisheries and bio technology – areas where the poor man is expected to benefit.

Abdullah has also stepped up his anti-graft drive even axing a Mahathir loyalist and a senior government minister and member of the ruling United Malay National organisation or UMNO for buying votes.

These are all potentially unpopular moves that interfere with the inherited wisdom from the previous administration.

”It’s really a political tussle between the old order and the new one that Abdullah is trying to establish,” said a political analyst. ”Proton is just a spark of a deep seated tussle for power and influence to set the direction for the country between the retired veteran and his successor.”

Mahathir always got his way for most of the 22 years he was firmly in power. At a time when the country’s political power was highly centralized, no one had the guts to question the rationale of the move, said the influential Sin Chew newspaper in an editorial on July 13.

”But in post-Mahathir Malaysia, political power structure has experienced some fundamental changes. Even at the tail end of Dr Mahathir’s administration, the foundation of his power has begun to give way,” the paper said analysing why Dr Mahathir came out of retirement to hit the government so hard.

”After Dr Mahathir retired, the country’s automobile ecology has experienced rapid transformation. Although the national carmaker used to dominate the market, its lead is now under serious threat. But to Dr Mahathir, no matter how well or how poorly the national car performs, it remains his pet project, and the jewel on the crown of his two-decade-odd administration,” the paper said.

”But given the rapid changes now taking place in the country’s political power structure, and the resultant changes in the policy-making process, coupled with vastly different external environments now, Proton is set to fight a tough duel of survival,” the paper said.

So too is Mahathir, fighting to protect his legacy from the inevitable erosion it will suffer at the hands of his handpicked successor.