Mahathir Mohamad is back. He has staged a comeback in the centre-stage of Malaysian politics with a big bang. The victory of the opposition Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) in the just-held elections under his leadership defying all the curbs and allurements has caught the world by surprise. The ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front), led by erstwhile Prime Minister Najib Razak of the United Malays National Organisation (UNMO), did resort to stringent curbs on media freedoms, tougher gerrymandering of constituency boundaries, making offers of attractive handouts to electorates and the like. All these failed to do the trick in its favour.
Mr. Razak's alleged involvement in the multi-million dollar embezzlement scandal in a sovereign wealth fund --1 Malaysia Development Berhad (IMDB) -- took a heavy toll on the ruling UNMO, for it seriously undermined the image of Malaysia, better known as a regional tiger economy, in the outside world. Whatever economic achievements the country made under the leadership of Mr. Razak in all these years, were overshadowed by the 1MDB scandal. The opposition got the much sought-after momentum out of it during the electioneering.
The return of Mr. Mahathir, who led UNMO for a long time, to politics and his magical victory in the Malaysian elections have again proved that politics does make strange bedfellows. Mr. Mahathir formed alliance with his one-time ally and then an adversary, Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, in a historic transition that has seen the 'ouster' of UNMO for the first time. Mr. Anwar, who has suffered at the hands of both Mr. Mahathir and Mr. Razak, is now in prison and expected to be released soon on royal pardon. As promised, Mr. Mahathir is set to hand over power to Mr. Anwar following the latter's election. However, it remains to be seen how Mr. Mahathir works for forging strong unity in the ranks of the Alliance of Hope and ultimately transfers power.
During his long reign, Mr. Mahathir had ruled Malaysia with an iron fist. His human rights records were also not beyond questions. Notwithstanding this, he is largely to be credited for Malaysia's rapid transition to a modern, technology-oriented fast developing economy. On both democratic rights and fight against corruption, Mr. Mahathir has now taken a firm and resolute stand that has been unambiguously endorsed by the Malaysians. His promise to uphold the rule of law is expected to go well with his own countrymen as well as peoples of other regional countries in Asia. This is more so because of his track-record. While in power, with the acumen of a visionary leader he steered Malaysia on course of becoming a role model for many developing countries. This helped unshackle its economy from the adverse fallouts of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. His return to power is, by all counts, well-timed as uncertainties now face the international community, in tandem with compounding problems on Malaysia's domestic front.
The victory of the opposition, led by Mr. Mahathir, does thus carry a plausible implication -- it could encourage democratic movements across Asia that was once the focal point of his broader political and economic agenda. It might also provide an inspirational lesson for many Asian countries where democratic environment is under threat. However, much would depend on the behaviour and performance of the new power wielders in Malaysia. Hopefully, they would be able to cement their unity and help the country sustain its progress, both politically and economically, much in line with the expectations of its people.