The Mahathir Administration in Malaysia: Discipline through Islam

Abstract

T HE ACCESSION OF Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir to the prime ministership lof Malaysia on July 16, 1981 invited the comment that a history of having been a rebel1 was no impediment to attaining the highest political power. The accession did indeed testify to the flexibility of the United Malays' National Organization (UMNO), the key component of the ruling National Front Party (Barisan Nasional). But this flexibility had already been demonstrated by the previous incumbent's accession: Tun Hussein Onn was the son and the collaborator of the most illustrious UMNO rebel of all, Dato Onn bin Jaafar. Furthermore, Mahathir had become fully accepted by the party when deputy prime minister, so his transition to prime minister occasioned no surprise. Indeed, his appointment, far from being an example of discontinuity, was in fact quite the reverse. Tun Razak's replacement of Tunku Abdul Rahman was a confused and protracted affair, in some respects dating effectively from May 1969, but formalized only in September 1970. Tun Hussein Onn's succession to Tun Razak came as a shock, after the latter's sudden death. On the other hand, Hussein's well-known ill-health prepared people for the Mahathir succession after the prime minister had undergone a serious heart operation. The transition in 1981 was, therefore, the first planned and orderly handover of power since Independence in 1957. This paper is concerned with the question of whether the smoothness of succession was accompanied by an equally smooth continuation of previous policies. Did the new government pursue old policies, or did it break new ground? Mahathir himself has stressed the theme of continu-