Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times by Barry Wain (fantasy novels to read .TXT) 📕

that he was an Islamic extremist in order to expand his appeal beyond his Malay-Muslim constituency — "learning how to eat with chopsticks", as one Chinese executive put it.[9] While supporting Dr. Mahathir's agenda, he remained quietly on the sidelines as political and business scandals periodically engulfed the government, telling old friends that he was working from the inside to influence policy instead of confronting opponents as in the past. An "unremarkable initiator of change" who produced few tangible achievements he could claim as his own,[10] Anwar nevertheless collected the credit as the Malaysian economy boomed in the 1990s. He travelled widely as finance minister and acquired a considerable international reputation.

Although Dr. Mahathir and Anwar both studied at local universities rather than overseas and experienced a period of political banishment, they were different in some obvious ways. Unlike Dr. Mahathir, who governed by the force of his will and professed no desire to be popular, Anwar's political style was "a canny mix of personal charm and cool pragmatism".[11] While Dr. Mahathir was practical, with little time for theory and fascinated by technological gadgets, Anwar had a more philosophical bent, equally at ease quoting the Qur'an to conservative villagers or citing Shakespeare to a more-Westernized audience.[12] Dr. Mahathir focused on economic growth, promoting his vision of a fully developed Malaysia by 2020 that bristled with skyscrapers, superhighways, bullet trains and other concrete symbols of modernity. Anwar talked more of poverty alleviation, low-cost housing and healthcare, and the hope that his generation would see greater liberty, less censorship and a flowering of civil society.

Although these differences were "matters of nuance, not of fundamentals",[13] strains showed as pundits repeatedly returned to their favourite guessing game: Who would succeed Dr. Mahathir, and when? A hint of dissension came at the 1993 UMNO General Assembly, when Anwar challenged Ghafar Baba for the deputy presidency against Dr. Mahathir's wishes. Anwar mounted his assault from behind a series of denials that sought to conceal his elaborate preparations. While Dr. Mahathir eventually did support Anwar's bid, prompting Ghafar to quit as deputy premier and withdraw from the party contest rather than be humiliated in a ballot, the prime minister would have preferred to keep them both in place and onside.

As political scientist John Funston commented, relations between Dr. Mahathir and Anwar could no longer be completely free of tension. Dr. Mahathir had to keep on demonstrating that he remained in control, or party members would conclude he no longer was. Anwar, on the other hand, had to show that he was ready to take over whenever required, or someone else would emerge to challenge his newly acquired position as the heir apparent.[14] The key question: In the absence of a timetable, would Anwar patiently wait his turn, or be pressured by supporters into risking his post by challenging Dr. Mahathir?

Living in adjoining official residences in the fancy Damansara Heights section of Kuala Lumpur, Dr. Mahathir and Anwar and their families developed a comfortable personal friendship. Anwar had met his wife in 1980 when visiting Dr. Mahathir's sister-in-law in hospital, where she was being cared for by a recent Dublin medical school graduate named Wan Aziza Wan Ismail. Anwar and Wan Aziza married in 1981. As neighbours, Dr. Mahathir and Anwar went horse-riding together on Sundays, until Anwar broke his collarbone in a fall and gave it up. Their daughters were good friends and studied together in Assunta Secondary School in Petaling Jaya, sometimes riding in each other's car if one driver was late.[15] Anwar described Dr. Mahathir as his "mentor, leader and father in politics".[16]

After the government increased its majority in a general election in 1995, UMNO was riven by proxy battles between the leader and his deputy, which had the overall effect of weakening Dr. Mahathir's grip on the party.[17] As usual, the intense jockeying was conducted as political wayang kulit, shadow play, behind a veneer of normality and professions of loyalty and denials of rifts that fooled nobody. At the 1995 UMNO General Assembly, Dr. Mahathir said he would retire "soon" and reaffirmed that Anwar was his natural successor. Anwar declared that his loyalty to the president should not be questioned and said anyone proposing him as a candidate for the leadership would be wasting their time. Dr. Mahathir's supporters, though, took out a little insurance. They persuaded the assembly to adopt a resolution saying there should be no contest for the positions of president and deputy president in 1996, when the party's triennial elections were due.

Despite that apparent obstacle, some observers and participants thought Anwar's spreading influence might be sufficient for him to be tempted to try and nudge aside "the old man" at the UMNO General Assembly in October 1996. Dr. Mahathir, however, moved first. In the early part of 1996, he had the party's Supreme Council, which he chaired, pass three new rulings. Reinforcing the previous year's resolution, the Supreme Council directed that party divisions, which propose candidates for elections at the assembly, could nominate only Dr. Mahathir for president and Anwar for deputy. Further, all candidates for senior positions must register with UMNO headquarters five months in advance, a requirement that would not allow a challenger to hide his intentions as Anwar had in 1993 against Ghafar. Finally, the Supreme Council pushed through an unprecedented rule that banned all campaigning for the October party elections. While the restrictions were introduced in the name of noble causes — less politicking, more unity, a level playing field and reduced vote buying — they effectively entrenched Dr. Mahathir's presidency until 1999.

At the General Assembly, Anwar's faction showed its muscle early when Ahmad Zahid Hamidi defeated incumbent Rahim Tamby Chik for the leadership of UMNO Youth and Siti Zaharah Sulaiman took control of the women's wing from Rafidah Aziz. But while Dr. Mahathir endorsed candidates lost that round, they dominated the Supreme Council poll, and Anwar's allies failed to make inroads at vice presidential level. If Anwar's followers tried to create the impression that time was