FEM2401-1

MALAYSIAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY

________________________________________________________

REPORT TITLE

The Roles, Responsibilities and Challenges of Prime Minister During

the Mahathir’s Era

GROUP-PEACE MEMBERS:
1 Ibrahim Ali Salem Ba Fadhl 218662
2 Bian Mingyan 218324
3 Merssal Nandana Nurcahyo 218510
4 Dhafa Alif Aryasatya 218332
5 Fathan Yusuf Farendra 218680
6 Nur Mahfud Syahdinal 218681
7 Fazila Maritza Rabbani 218529
8 Atmaja Balqish Zahrani 218333
 ABSTRACT

The 5th Malaysian General Elections in 1981 won by Tun Dr. Mahathir under UMNO.
This study analyses include of three main points such as the key roles, responsibilities
and challenges of Mahathir's first and second eras specifically, how he managed and
maintained the political hegemony. Hence, the political stability in the first elected and
his second elected. In addition, as person of the official observers appointed by Tun Dr.
Mahathir, we used a combination of media studies, library research, and direct observa-
tion to gather the data used for this study's analysis. The main argument of this article is
the transformations and the breakthorugh of Mahathir’s idea to bring a new era of Ma-
laysia from a low-income country into a high middle-income and a newly industrialized
country. Also, how He stabilized in different majors when there is a struggle to find a new
solution despite had some controversies in 1998.

Keywords: General Election, Transformations, Stability

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1. Introduction
Malaysia is often regarded as a prime example of a nation that is deeply divided
along ethnic lines, and most observers agree that ethnic strife has been, and continues
to be, one of the most distinct sources of political conflict. Malaysia, on the other hand,
is one of the few multi-ethnic civilizations that has had some success in managing ethnic
conflict and has experienced considerable political stability since independence in 1957.
This will discuss how Malaysia's dominant political class, particularly UMNO (United Ma-
lays National Organization) and Mahathir, has maintained political hegemony 1 while at-
taining relative political stability in a profoundly fragmented country during the last few
decades. Hence, this writing will be focused about the role, responsibilities, and the
achievements.

According to Malaysian Constitution (cited on Parliament Government) because it is

a constitutional monarchy, the Constitution assigns the institutions of His Majesty to this
nation. The nine state rulers by inheritance, the King as the supreme ruler, and the Coun-
cil of Malay Rulers. The Monarch The Prime Minister and the Cabinet advise the King as
he performs his constitutionally mandated tasks. In the meantime, each hereditary ruler
serves as the head of state of their respective state and does so on the counsel of their
Menteri Besar.

The following question has been addressed based on the crucial statements and the
data will be collected, below are the list of the questions.

1. What are the key roles being a Prime Minister.

2. What are the challenges to be a Prime Minister from previous year to current year
and how handles the struggle.
3. What are the responsibilities of a Prime Minister and how do these duties differ
from those of other government officials.

1
“Contesting the vision: Mahathirism, the power bloc and the crisis of hegemony in Malaysia" JW Hilley
- 2000 - theses.gla.ac.uk

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2. Roles of Prime Minister

The Yang DiPertuan Agong appoints the Prime Minister, who serves as the Head of
Government (YDPA). The YDPA exercises its discretion in selecting the prime minister,
but he may only designate as prime minister a member of the Dewan Rakyat who, in his
opinion, is likely to enjoy the support of the majority of the body's members.

The YDPA exercises discretion in choosing the prime minister, however he may only
designate as prime minister a member of the Dewan Rakyat who, in his opinion Most
members of the Dewan Rakyat are likely to have faith in them. Practically speaking, the
prime minister leads the ruling party or coalition of ruling political parties in the Dewan
Rakyat. There are two options available to the prime minister in the event that the majority
of Dewan Rakyat members lose faith in him: (i) offer the YDPA the resignation of the
whole cabinet in order for them to select a new prime minister, or (ii) suggest to the YDPA
dissolving the Dewan Rakyat in order to hold fresh general elections.

2.1 The Mahathir’s Era

2.1.1 Regime Maintenance through Consociational Bargaining
Before Mahathir become a prime minister, the attainment of independence was the
main goal of nationalist leaders between 1955 and 1957. Among the main ethnic groups,
independence from British colonial control was seen as a possible goal. After World War
II, when Malays and Chinese political cooperation was small, the British colonial govern-
ment insisted on independence for a multiracial government rather than one dominated
by a single race, especially to Malay political leaders.

The results of the 1959 Alliance election demonstrated how crucial it was for the
Alliance government to garner multi-ethnic electoral support in the presence of perceived
foreign pressure or threat. To put it briefly, the campaigns and outcomes of the 1969
elections demonstrated how susceptible the Alliance framework was to racial sensitivi-
ties. Even though there is not enough evidence to conclude that there is a direct correla-
tion between the presence of outside pressure and the likelihood of elite cooperation, the

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results of elections held between 1959 and 1966 indicate that there appears to have
been a vote in favor of the Alliance coalition. (see on the table 2.1.1).

TABLE 2.1.1

Parliamentary Elections, 1955-1969: Seats Won by Political Parties

1955 1959 1964 a 1969 b

Alliance 51 (81.7%) 74 (51.8%) 89 (58.4%) 66 (48.4%)

Democratic Action Party - - - 13 (13.7%)
Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia - - - 8 (8.6%)
People’s Action Party - - 1 (2.1%) -
People’s Progressive Party - 4 (6.3%) 2 (3.6%) 4 (3.9%)
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party 1 (4.1%) 13 (21.3%) 9 (14.4%) 12 (23.7%)
Socialist Front - 8 (12.9%) 2 (16.2%) -
United Democratic Party - - 1 (4.3%) -
Party Negara 0 (7.9%) 1 (2.1%) - -
Malayan Party - 1 (0.9%) - -
Independents 0 (2.2%) 3 (4.8%) 0 (0.7%) 0 (0.3%)

Total 52 104 104 103

a
The 1964 election excludes Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak
b
The 1969 election excludes Sabah and Sarawak. Election in one constituency postponed.
- = Data not available.

Source: Compiled from NSTP Research and Information Services, Elections in Malaysia:
A handbook of Facts and Figures on the Elections 1955-1986 (Kuala Lumpur: Balai
Berita, 1990).

2.1.2 The Economic Growth

Mahathir was inaugurated as the 4th prime minister of Malaysia in 1981. During his
22 years in office, Dr. Mahathir is widely credited for Malaysia’s rapid economic de-velop-
ment and transformation from the 1980s. Mahathir has transformed Malaysia from a low-
income country into a high middle-income and a newly industrialized country. Mahathir
initiated an economic liberalization strategy in the middle of the 1980s. as the Malaysian
economic grew, Mahathir introduced a blueprint for development called Vision 2020. Un-
der this plan, Malaysia set an ambitious plan to be a modern developed industrial country
in 2020. In the early and late 1990s, a number of massive infrastructure projects were
constructed, such as the Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur International Airport

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(KLIA), and several technology-driven “smart cities” in Malaysia. Sports were another
means by which Prime Minister Mahathir promoted Malaysia as a nation and its advance-
ment toward development. Malaysia was the first Asian country to hold a Commonwealth
Games, and just the second developing nation to do so, after Jamaica in 1966. This
made Malaysia’s 1998 candidacy to host the 16th Commonwealth Games note-worthy.

Malaysia’s GDP grew at an annual rate of more than 9% between 1990 and 1996.
Source: The World bank

During this prosperous period of significant economic expansion, Malaysia faced its
most severe financial crisis. Southeast Asian countries were rocked by the Asian financial
crisis in 1997. The reformasi movement gained traction in 1988 as a result of this financial
crisis. Reformation had created new conditions in many parts of Malaysia as the urban
middle class publicly questioned the government and actively entered politics.

2.2 The Rise of New Politics and Challenges

In the initial months following the economic crisis that struck in mid-1997, For the first
few months after the mid-1997 economic crisis, Mahathir’s strategy for political survival
was not well co-ordinated. However, when the economic still crisis, Mahathir raised an
ethnic issue by slinging out ‘‘the Jews” as the main culprits behind the economic crisis.

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Thirty-four U.S congressmen drafted a resolution and sent a letter, dated 27 October, to
demand Mahathir openly apologize or to resign as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Per-
haps, more favourable to Mahathir, at this time tension had built up between Malaysia
and the United States as the Clinton administration attempted to apply a U.S. domestic
law, the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act 1996, to Malaysia because of Petronas’s investment in
the Iranian gas industry.

Anwar then promised to initiate an unprecedented parliamentary vote of confidence

in Mahathir after nine menteri besar and four chief ministers vowed to back Mahathir’s
leadership. Mahathir thinks that the well-coordinated upsurge in patriotic sentiment that
came along in mid-October is what allowed him to reclaim the position he had lost during
the economic crisis. Following the passage of the vote of confidence in Parliament, Ma-
hathir assumed political leadership and proposed the creation of the National Economic
Action Council (NEAC) to oversee the country’s economic recovery.

2.2.1 Mahathir and Anwar: The Final Struggle

TABLE 2.2.1

The New Number of New Faces in the 1998 UMNO Divisional Elections

Divisions Chief Deputy Vice Youth Wanita

Chief Chief Chief

Perlis 3 - 2 2 2 -
Kedah 15 2 3 8 7 1
Penang 11 2 4 8 5 3
Perak 23 - 1 8 13 4
Kelantan 14 3 7 8 7 2
Terengganu 8 - - 3 5 2
Pahang 11 - 5 7 3 6
Selangor 17 2 2 8 13 2
Negeri Sembilan 7 2 3 2 4 2
Malacca 5 3 4 4 2 1
Johor 20 5 10 13 14 8
Sabah 20 1 8 7 11 2
FT. Labuan 11 4 8 7 7 4

Total 165 24 57 85 95 37
(Percentage) (14.5) (34.5) (51.5) (57.8) (22.4)

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Source: The Star, 18 April 1998, p. 20.

Therefore, it was not shocking that additional measures were implemented to protect
the Mahathir administration from challenges shortly after the divisional elections. Anwar's
close ally Kamaruddin Jaffar feels that instead of bringing up nepotism and cronyism
through Zahid as he had done during the party assembly in June 1998, Anwar ought to
have squared up to Mahathir directly. He contends that by raising the issues of Anwar's
moral transgressions, a direct challenge by Anwar would not have given Mahathir enough
time or chance to plot Anwar's political destruction. Mahathir's attempt at ousting his dep-
uty would not have succeeded even if he had brought up the subject since it would have
been viewed as a political challenge.

In addition, the floating party delegates, or fence-sitters, would have been compelled
to support either Anwar or Mahathir had a "all-out-war" been declared at the June 1998
party assembly. Other close associates of Anwar stated that if Anwar had issued the
order at that point, they would have been prepared to wage a "all-out war" against Ma-
hathir. Furthermore, they think that Mahathir's position would have been significantly
more precarious in the event of a challenge, given the changes in neighboring nations'
leadership following the regional economic crisis.

In Anwar's case, Mahathir removed him from both the administration and the ruling
party, thereby averting any potential challenge from him. Furthermore, Anwar's followers'
hopes of him returning to politics were significantly diminished by his later imprisonment.
Mahathir not only destroyed any chance that he might ensure his allies' safety by doing
this. As a result, without Anwar and his supporters to threaten them, Mahathir and his
allies were able to solidify their political and financial power after Anwar was expelled
from both the government and UMNO.

3. Mahathir’s Responsibilities for Second Time Elected

Dr. Mahathir was re-elected as prime minister of the nation with the assistance of his
erstwhile opponent, Anwar Ibrahim, while Mr. Najib faced allegations of money launder-
ing and power abuse and was ultimately imprisoned.

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Source: BBC News

He declared that Mahathir was returning to "save Malaysia"—that is, to make up for
past wrongs and bring back the splendor of the nation before the corruption crisis had
made it an international disgrace. After Malaysia's 14th general election in 2018, 92-year-
old Mahathir was re-elected as prime minister. Due to the political climate in Malaysia,
especially the ensuing public outrage and escalating anti-government protests following
the Prime Minister Najib Razak corruption scandal, Mahathir returned to politics.

4. Result of Interviewed
According to Tun Dr. Mahathir (2023), the Prime Minister is the highest official in the
country, he leads the country. In Malaysia, the prime minister is very powerful. Normally,
he can give direction to the government, determine. The policies of the country and im-
plement them. Other officials can not make their own decision, they must get the approval
of the prime minister before they can do anything. The prime minister is a very powerful
officer in the government. He leads the government, and he must take responsibilities for
whatever happens to the country. In Malaysia, according to the constitution. The king
does not have the power, the king approves the decision made by the government,

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headed by the prime minister. The king has a formal duty to sign into law whatever has
been passed by parliament and presented to the king by the prime minister. An election
is held every 5 years, and during the election, the people can vote and choose which
candidate from which party they want to support. The party who gets the biggest number
of seats in parliament, will become the government.

The party that gets the biggest number of seats, especially when gets more than 50%
of the seats in parliament, parliament has 222 seats. While to be selected as the govern-
ment, the party must have at least 112 seats, that is more than half. The party that wins
112 seats has a right to propose to the king as to the prime minister, department of their
leader as prime minister. The leader must have 1 in the election, so his name is put
forward by the party and the king usually approves the appointment of the head of the
party as the prime minister.

5. Conclusion
Mahathir, a nationalist Malaysia leader, made decisions during his first term as prime
minister (1982–2003), sometimes in a pragmatic and other times in a contentious way,
depending on his subjective opinion of what would be best for Malaysia. Among his con-
troversial choices in 1998 were the implementation of selective capital control, the en-
couragement of domestic enterprises, and the removal of Anwar Ibrahim from his posi-
tion as deputy prime minister and cabinet member.

However, following a year in power, he returned to his political roots as a representa-

tive of the Malay ethnic minority and an advocate of Malay dominance in Malaysia's mul-
tiethnic culture.

Mahathir had erred when he resigned as prime minister rather than exerting control
over the issue with the authority of his position. Here, Mahathir's political vanity made
him think he was Malaysia's only source of need. He could not even think of stepping
down as prime minister because he thought that all the Malay parties would beg him to
continue. Mahathir has been engulfed by Malaysian politics. Politicians from both gener-
ations now have a responsibility to manage the dynamics of public policy and politics in
Malaysia in Mahathir's absence.

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 APPENDIX 1

A. Chat Evidence

Our first meeting on 15th November 2023 at UPM Library that discussed about met Tun Dr. Ma-
hathir directly.

Our second meeting on 29th November 2023 at KMR Cafe to make the intro of our video.

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B. Letter Appointment & Mahathir’s Sign

We requested to meet Tun Dr. Mahathir and long story short, we got the fix date and we got his
sign when we met. In addition, we also got a book from Dr. Mahathir.

C. Link Video
https://youtu.be/0n8lu6SdESc?si=zGVyW64mQIsOjpgf

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 APPENDIX 2

A. Photos

Three of us represented our group to meet Tun Dr. Mahathir at his private office in Putrajaya on
22nd November 2023.

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 TRANSCRIPT

1. What factors contribute to the selection of a prime minister in parliament democ-

racies?

Well in the democratic system, we have the people to choose the government. So, in
order to choose the government, the people set up political parties. In the political parties,
there would be the leader, the head of the political party, and other officials. An election
is held every 5 years, and during the election, the people can vote and choose which
candidate from which party they want to support. So, the party who gets the biggest
number of seats in parliament, will become the government. The party that gets the big-
gest number of seats, especially when he gets more than 50% of the seats in parliament,
parliament has 222 seats. So, to be selected as the government, the party must have at
least 112 seats, that is more than half. The party that wins 112 seats has a right to pro-
pose to the king as to the prime minister, department of their leader as prime minister.
So, the leader must have 1 in the election, so his name is put forward by the party and
the king usually approves the appointment of the head of the party as the prime minister.
Once a prime minister is appointed, he has a right to choose the cabinet. The cabinet
may range up to 30 people maybe a little bit more, maybe a little bit less. And that forms
a government of the country. The prime minister and his cabinet would be responsible
for governments of the country.

2. What are the challenges to be a prime minister from previous years to current
year?

In the first place, he must win the election. But before he can win the election, the
prime minister is usually the chief or the head of the political party. So, he has to contest
in the election, and if his party win, then he has the opportunity to become the prime
minister. And the system is the same, but sometimes no party win the election. Like the
15th election, none of the parties was able to obtain a majority.

A majority means more than 111, more than half the number of seats in parliament.
So because of that, there was a “hung parliament” you can not form the government. But

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it is possible for the parties contesting in the election to form coalition to work together.
In the case of present government, the biggest party with the biggest number of seats,
they decided to form a coalition, that is between “Pakatan harapan” which is a coalition
of 3 parties, they are DAP, Amanah, and Keadilan, they have formed a coalition. Between
them, they don’t get enough seats. To get enough seats they form a coalition with another
party, in this case UMNO.

UMNO has 126 seats, and Pakatan harapan has 170 over seats, still not enough
to form a government. But when the 2 form a coalition, the party in Sarawak de-
cided to join the coalition, the party in Sarawak has more than 26. So, when they
add up, they have more than 111 seats. So, because they have more than half the
number of seats, they can form a government, a coalition government. So, the present
government is the coalition government made up of 4 parties. The Pakatan Harapan
government is made up of party keadilan (justice party), Amanah, DAP, and UMNO, and
Sarawak party.

3. What are the key roles of being a prime minister?

He leads the government and the country; he is the head of the government of the
country. And he has to appoint a cabinet, the cabinet will be made up of ministers who
will be responsible for different departments of the government, different ministries. So
there maybe as many as 30 ministers. So, the normal thing for the government, the prime
minister or maybe the ministers to propose whether there are changes of laws that they
want to propose.

If they can, they make a proposal, it has to be debated in the cabinet. If the cabinet
approves, then it is presented to the parliament. And in the parliament. If the parliament
approves, then it can become law. But before it becomes law, before the policy for ex-
ample is accepted, the king must sign it.

So that is the role of a prime minister. To lead the government through the cabinet
and then to present to the parliament, to get the parliament approved and if approved,
we get the king to sign.

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 REFERENCES

Books and Journals

Hilley, J. (2001). Malaysia: Mahathirism, hegemony and the new opposition. Zed Books.

Hilley, J. W. (2000). Contesting the vision: Mahathirism, the power bloc and the crisis of hegem-
ony in Malaysia (Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow).

Jeshurun, C. (1993). Malaysia: The Mahathir supremacy and vision 2020. Southeast Asian Affairs,
203-223.

Mauzy, D. K., & Milne, R. S. (2002). Malaysian politics under Mahathir. Routledge.

Hwang, In Wong. (2003). Personalized the Politics Malaysian State under Mahathir. Silkworm
Books.

Articles
Blakkarly, J. (2020). The rise and fall of Mahathir Mohamad. Kill Your Darlings, (Jan-Jun 2020),
174-179.

Harding, A. (1996). Law, government and the constitution in Malaysia. In Law, Government and
the Constitution in Malaysia. Brill Nijhoff.

Interview

Tun Dr. Mahathir, 22nd November 2023.

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