Mahathir retakes Malaysia

Beating the odds is an understatement when the subject under examination has over 90 summers under his belt, last saw success 15 years back and has, as his electoral ally, the wife of former Deputy Prime Minister barred from contesting on sodomy charges. That in brief is Mahathir Mohammed whose coalition has come back from the dead to win a majority in Malaysian Parliament. The die seemed to have been cast for an upset, only the incumbent PM Najib failed to read it. For three years, Malaysia had been rocked by a scandal where Najib was accused of siphoning off state funds. The nation’s image had been besmirched and at least 10 per cent of the electorate, mostly ethnic Malays, stayed away. That proved fatal for Najib in 30 swing seats.

There was no Malayan tsunami this time that could have lifted Najib’s electoral boat. He may well be regretting rubbing off too many opposition politicians at the same time, motivating them to form a middle-of-the-road four-party front that gives adequate space to the country’s three main ethnic groups — the Malays, the Chinese and the Tamils. It was ironical that the 92-year challenger focused on the future while the incumbent, younger by three decades, resorted to desperate freebies to no avail. Mahathir’s alliance also won elections to several provinces. What is of concern is that the hardline Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia has retained its voter base as the third force.  

Mahathir has promised to bring back development and boost the economy, his twin signature achievements when he ran Malaysia with an iron hand for 22 years. This means renewed Chinese interest in Malaysian infrastructure to raise its influence with another major ASEAN country after Indonesia and Philippines. It would also mean a rearrangement in supplies of arms, for it was Mahathir who had opted for Russian combat jets and submarines. This should make it easier for India to restart a close defence relationship on the basis of equipment commonality. Malaysia under Mahathir will look to balance China and scout the neighbourhood for more opportunities. An opportunity beckons for India.