Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times, Barry Wain [best mystery novels of all time .txt] 📗

his first choice. But since he had dismissed Anwar as morally unfit and the government was under pressure from the sectarian Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir opted for the one who did not smoke or drink and had excellent Islamic credentials. Dr. Mahathir was mindful, too, that Abdullah personally did not like Anwar Ibrahim, and could be expected to block his return to active politics. Associates believed Dr. Mahathir tapped Abdullah also because he thought he would be the most grateful and easiest to manipulate from behind the scenes.[14] Instead, under the influence of ambitious young aides, Abdullah had moved his eager supporters into crucial positions during the 16 months that Dr. Mahathir was a lame duck leader, ready to chart his own course as soon as he took charge.

Dr. Mahathir's reaction to being politically outmanoeuvred for once, denouncing Abdullah in increasingly harsh language and refusing to retire graciously, did nothing for the former prime minister's reputation. He shunned the chance to play the part of elder statesman, indulging instead in mean personal politics, even as he registered some valid points. Worse for him, he was unable to influence events, beyond reinforcing the perception that Abdullah's administration was inept. Flailing away without any result, Dr. Mahathir later gave up temporarily on Najib as well, though not because he thought he was unsuited to lead Malaysia while dogged by scandal. Rather, he branded Najib a "coward" for not challenging Abdullah. Dr. Mahathir then pinned his hopes on Muhyiddin Yassin, an UMNO vice president. But he, too, initially accepted Abdullah's transition arrangement and ruled out a challenge, before engineering a peaceful handover to Najib from behind the scenes.

At no stage did Dr. Mahathir acknowledge his culpability in making it almost impossible for party rivals to contest Abdullah's presidency and allow for wider reform and regeneration in UMNO. Not only did Dr. Mahathir put in place the 30 per cent nomination quota to protect himself while in power, but he also arranged "bonus" votes for presidential nominees and gave the Supreme Council enormous advantage over the rank and file by allowing the council to postpone triennial party elections by up to 18 months.

By quitting UMNO in 2008, Dr. Mahathir tried to prompt a stampede for the exits by the party's elected representatives and leaders, who he hoped would remain outside the party until Abdullah was replaced, before returning to UMNO. It was one of those all-or-nothing gambits that worked as Dr. Mahathir's career ascended, but flopped as he lost power and his political touch deserted him. It was also an impractical and irresponsible tactic, given that UMNO was still the heart of the National Front, which had been recently re-elected to govern the country for another five years. Explaining Dr. Mahathir's misguided motivation, one long-time ally said, "He hates Abdullah more than he loves UMNO."[15]

The UMNO that Abdullah so fortuitously inherited and Dr. Mahathir so casually abandoned was nothing like the patriotic party that had led the campaign for Malaysia's independence half a century earlier. It had long lost its idealism and was rotting from within, "morally exhausted" and "ideologically hollow".[16] In addition to the ossification of the leadership, UMNO under Dr. Mahathir had become riddled with corruption as it went into business in a major way. Bereft of ideas, the party directed its efforts, not at addressing the changing needs of a more complex Malaysia, but at maintaining its hold on power and pursuing policies that primarily benefited a small and privileged circle.

Dr. Mahathir made UMNO more irrelevant by relying on the bureaucracy to perform what should have been party functions, and limiting UMNO's role in governmental affairs. For example, the 14,000-strong Social Development Department in the Rural Development Ministry served as the "eyes and ears" of UMNO in kampungs, while Dr. Mahathir ignored the tradition that those who obtained the most votes in party elections were entitled to senior cabinet positions.[17] Even so, he overrode the other parties in the National Front coalition to the extent that many Chinese and Indians would no longer vote for junior partners. So while the National Front needed to reinvent itself to be effective, its minority partners would remain demoralized unless and until UMNO began the process by revitalizing itself.[18]

Although UMNO's claim to pre-eminence rested on majority support from the political dominant Malay community, the party proved resistant to change even as its historical base eroded. The general election in 1999, after Anwar's dismissal the previous year, when hundreds of thousands of members left UMNO to join the opposition, signalled the party's decline. Most UMNO leaders concluded that radical adjustment was necessary to meet the threat of Anwar's Reformasi movement for more democracy, transparency and all the sins gathered under the rubric of corruption. But Dr. Mahathir had resisted, insisting that what was needed was restoration not reformation.[19] While UMNO agreed to revise its constitution in 2000, two proposals that received strong support — direct election of top positions, such as the president, by some 300,000 party members, and dropping the requirements for a high percentage of divisional nominations for office bearers — were rejected by the Supreme Counci1.[20]

Abdullah's experience indicated that a rigid and inflexible UMNO was unable or unwilling to respond to the demands of a younger, better educated and more discerning electorate, despite the distinct possibility of defeat by defections or in future polls. Given the extent of its electoral setback in 2008, unless decisive action was taken to end UMNO's malaise, "It may even be terminal in the next general election," one party veteran warned.[21]

Broadly, though not all the participants and provocateurs were visible, UMNO and the vested interests that sustained the party were engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the forces of reform, skillfully marshalled by the articulate and resurgent Anwar Ibrahim. As the stakes increased, there was likely to be only one winner. Abdullah, caught in the middle, was jerked in all directions until he was thrown out.

Apart from turning UMNO into a powerful patronage machine that eventually