70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Home / AMBASSADORS' COMMENTS
Mahathir and the ultimate game of power
Ambassador Tran Duc Mau 16:35, 2020/03/02
Mahathir Mohamad’s fatal mistake was his overconfidence of being able to keep power.

Almost two years ago, Malaysia witnessed until then the most interesting power seizing game when the 92-year-old former head of government Mahathir Mohamad allied with his former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to overthrow the then Prime Minister Najib Razak and became the oldest premier in the world. Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim won the parliamentary election and Mahathir pledged to transfer power to Anwar Ibrahim two years later.

 Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad attends the East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019. (Photo: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images)

But now, when that moment came, Mahathir Mohamad didn't hand over the power to Anwar Ibrahim. He resigned instead. By doing so, he avoided transferring power to his former lieutenant and played the game of power in Malaysia from the beginning again. He freed himself from the dependence on the alliance with Anwar Ibrahim's Coalition of Hope and tried to form another political bloc that is strong enough to be able to form a new government with him as prime minister and without the support of Anwar Ibrahim. The Coalition of Hope nominated Anwar Ibrahim as a candidate for prime minister. But the Malaysian king appointed former Interior Minister Muhyiddun Yassin to be the new leader of Malaysia's government.

While Mahathir Mohamad stated: "I've been betrayed, mostly by Muhyiddun",  Anwar Ibrahim also claimed to be betrayed, but not by Muhyiddun but by Mohamad Mahathir. Both started one after the other the power game, but this time both lost. The winner of this game is the man who hasn't been initiating the game and doesn't play any role in it.

Mahathir Mohamad’s fatal mistake was his overconfidence of being able to keep power. He stepped down to finish the power game he already won and to start a new one which he was sure that he would emerge again as a victor. His misfortune was that the Malaysian king didn't team up with Mahathir but play his own game. With the installation of Huhyiddun Yassin to head the Malaysian government, the king freed the country’s politics from the power struggle between Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir Mohamad’s power calculations were very sophisticated. But this time, he fell short of luck or underestimated the weightiness of political and social changes in Malaysia since he came back to power.

The power struggle among political parties and fractions in Malaysia will not end with the swearing-in of the new prime minister. It will go on. It will not be easy for the new prime minister to find and maintain the necessary majority in the parliament in order to govern. This country, therefore, faces risks of political and social instability and uncertainty ahead.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by Ambassador Tran Duc Mau are of his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hanoitimes.

TAG: mahathir Malaysia game of power government
Other news
15:23, 2024/03/23
Another trilateral alliance?
It will be Joe Biden's new feat.
21:21, 2024/03/16
Vladimir Putin's fifth term and Russia's near future
Now, this year's presidential election would give him the possibility to become Russia's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin in the first half of the last century.
07:21, 2024/03/09
State of the Union address as campaigning address
Delivering the annual State of the Union address is always a rare opportunity to reach a very broad audience in the US.
04:19, 2024/03/03
Vladimir Putin's messages of self-confidence
For him, things are shaping up well with Russia's war in Ukraine and with Russia's efforts to resist all sanctions and confrontations of the West
13:38, 2024/03/02
ASEAN is coming to Australia
The relation is a driver of prosperity that binds our region together, making it a global economic powerhouse and political center of gravity.
09:22, 2024/02/29
Dangerous and adventurous
For NATO and some of its members, sending their troops to Ukraine would be a political and military adventure that could destroy this military alliance