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Chapter 7 276© 2003 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore If any ruler puts a single one of his subjects to shame [memberi’ aib], that shall be a sign that his kingdom will be destroyed by Almighty God. Similarly it has been granted by Almighty God to Malay subjects that they shall never be disloyal or treacherous to their rulers, even if their rulers behave evilly or inflict injustice upon them. (Sejarah Melayu)1 During my entire political career, when I visited every corner of the country, at any gathering, I felt confident of the support of the Malay society for UMNO. On the other hand, it was difficult to be certain of Chinese support or even be sure of their stand. Now the situation has changed. … My experience was extremely peculiar, one that I had never experienced in my entire life. In Malay-majority areas, BN leaders and workers looked weary and exhausted as well as pressured. This was because in a very open, fearless and unhesitant manner, so many Malays — young, old, labourers, the learned, the rich, the poor — worked hard and earnestly for the opposition parties, no matter whether it was PAS, DAP, Parti Rakyat, or KeADILan. Only in Chinese-majority areas were the BN and UMNO leaders and workers relaxed. (Musa Hitam, 2000)2 The year 1998 marks a significant change in Malaysian political history. After several years of leadership conflict speculation within UMNO, Anwar Ibrahim was abruptly dismissed from office, expelled from the The Rise of New Politics and Challenges to the Mahathir Regime Reproduced from Personalized Politics: The Malaysian State under Mahathir, by In-Won Hwang (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2003). This version was obtained electronically direct from the publisher on condition that copyright is not infringed. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Individual articles are available at 277 The Rise of New Politics and Challenges to the Mahathir Regime© 2003 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore party, imprisoned under the ISA, beaten while in custody and eventually charged in court on five counts of sodomy and five counts of corruption. These events happened with Machiavellian ruthlessness in September 1998. Anwar sensed his time as Mahathir’s deputy was about to end, but even he did not anticipate Mahathir acting in “such a despicable and shameless manner”. 3 Interestingly, Mahathir claimed in an interview that he had not read Machiavelli’s prescription on how to be a successful politician. 4 Anwar’s abrupt dismissal and its aftermath, nonetheless, recall Machiavelli’s famous dictum about cruelty, that a successful leader should not care about the infamy of cruelty in order to maintain power. Anwar’s sacking shocked the nation because such treatment of a deputy prime minister had never happened before. Even resignation was not part of Malaysian political culture until Mahathir came to power in 1981. During Tunku Abdul Rahman’s era, Tun Abdul Razak was his deputy for the duration of his reign. It was only because of the death of his first deputy Ismail bin Abdul Rahman that two deputies served under Razak. Mahathir was Hussein Onn’s deputy during his administration. To a much greater extent than in most other countries, leadership succession had been institutionalized as an important factor contributing to political stability in Malaysia. But up to 2002, Mahathir had four deputies and three of them resigned or were sacked. It is still uncertain whether the fourth deputy will succeed Mahathir as president. As Funston notes, it was under Mahathir’s leadership that a certain degree of conflict within top levels of UMNO has become institutionalized. 5 The Mahathir-Anwar leadership tussle is certainly not the first in Malaysian political history since there have been serious leadership struggles within UMNO circles. But unlike previous tussles, the Mahathir-Anwar conflict was something “unprecedented” in Malaysian politics. Its political, social, and even cultural consequences were not bounded by “Malay issues” or “UMNO affairs”. In short, the Anwar episode has acted as a catalyst for a new political configuration, not just in Malay politics but in Malaysian politics as a whole. Malaysia witnessed its most intense street protests since the 1960s, after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim. At each public rally, Anwar attracted tens of thousands of Malaysians from all ethnic groups, though mainly Malays. Within a few weeks of Anwar’s sacking, Mahathir’s national [18.191.228.88] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 07:47...

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