Word: mahathir
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...years ago, when Anwar was Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister and a star in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the dominant political party in the ruling National Front coalition, he launched a challenge against the long rule of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. In short order, Anwar was sacked and charged with sodomy and abuse of power. Although the sex charge was overturned in 2004, the man once presumed to become Malaysia's next Prime Minister languished in prison for six years...
...this sounds familiar to those following Malaysian politics, consider what happened a decade ago. Then the country's Deputy Prime Minister and a star in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Malaysia's largest political party, Anwar launched a challenge against the long rule of former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad. Anwar was quickly sacked and charged with sodomy and abuse of power. Although the sex charge was overturned in 2004, the man once presumed to become Malaysia's next Prime Minister languished in prison for six years...
...What a difference four years makes. In 2004, Abdullah's party won a record mandate, capturing 64% of the popular vote and 91% of seats in parliament. The overwhelming victory was due, in part, to the attraction of a fresh face-after 22 years in power, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad handed over the reigns to Abdullah in 2003. Abdullah also scored points by positioning himself as a progressive reformer; he promised to clean up widespread graft and strengthen civil liberties...
...Despite Malaysia's choreographed political system, Abdullah is something of an accidental Prime Minister. His iron-fisted predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled for 22 years, discarded three potential political heirs before settling on Abdullah in 2003. He was everything Mahathir was not: affable, cautious, nonthreatening. In the wake of several corruption scandals involving some of Mahathir's closest associates, it also helped that Abdullah was regarded as Mr. Clean. Nevertheless, many in Malaysia saw the now 68-year-old as a transitional figure, a placeholder until UMNO found someone more visionary. In January, Mahathir even claimed that he had picked...
...civil liberties during his tenure. The vows so pleased Malaysian voters that in the 2004 elections, less than five months after Abdullah became Prime Minister, the National Front won its largest-ever mandate. But the euphoria hasn't lasted. Abdullah has been criticized for everything from restarting several of Mahathir's extravagant megaprojects to rolling back press freedoms that he himself had granted. At the same time, his stolid image as a compromise candidate has come back to haunt him. "His performance is disappointing, unexciting," says Kuala Lumpur-based economist Din Merican. "He can't grasp details, and he does...