Malaysia: The Emergence of a New Generation of UMNO Leadership

Abstract

The year 1993 opened with the consdtutional crisis between the Malaysian Gov ernment and the Malay hereditary rulers, which was to result in the rulers los ing their legal immunity and closed with the emergence of a new generation of leadership in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) following the UMNO election. The performance of the economy during the year was robust. The UMNO election in November was the single most important political event of the year. It marked a major turning point in UMNO leadership, with forty-six-year-old Datuk Anwar Ibrahim leading a team of Young Turks to chal lenge the veterans led by Deputy Prime Minister Ghafar Baba. In the end, Anwar's Vision Team swept all the major seats of the UMNO Supreme Coun cil, and thus Anwar, as the Deputy President of UMNO, established himself as the undisputed heir apparent of Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been Prime Minister since 1981. Anwar was later appointed Deputy Prime Min ister.