Malaysian opposition chooses autocratic Mahathir as top candidate
By
John Roberts
15 January 2018
Mahathir Mohamad, the 92-year-old former Malaysian prime minister, was chosen on January 7 by the opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH), as its top candidate in this year’s national elections. If PH wins, Mahathir will become prime minister, a post he occupied from 1981 to 2003.
Prime Minister Najib Razak must call an election by August 24, but it is widely expected earlier. Najib heads the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the dominant party in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
The opposition’s endorsement of Mahathir as its lead candidate is an extraordinary about-face that underscores its utterly opportunist politics.
From 1993 to 1998, PH de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim was Mahathir’s deputy in UMNO, also deputy prime minister and finance minister. In 1998, amid the political turmoil following the Asian economic crisis of 1997, Anwar fell out with Mahathir over the direction of economy policy.
Mahathir expelled Anwar and his supporters from the government and UMNO. When Anwar launched a nationwide campaign of protest rallies over government corruption, Mahathir had his former deputy arrested under the country’s draconian Internal Security Act. Held incommunicado, Anwar was bashed so severely that he sustained lifelong injuries. He was then charged, tried and jailed on trumped-up charges of corruption and sodomy.
Yet the PH delegates at its convention, held in the Selangor state capital of Shah Alam, voted unanimously on January 7 for Mahathir to head the coalition. If PH wins the election, Mahathir has agreed to seek a pardon for Anwar and step aside if that takes place. Anwar is due to be released from prison in June, but without a…