The Malaysian Enigma !

Malaysia is one of our nearest neighbours but our political relations with it have been strained.  For many years the Malaysian prime minister was Mahathir  Mohamad who was often critical of Australia and repeatedly clashed with Paul Keating when he headed the Australian government.

The man being groomed to take over from  Mahathir Mohamad when the geriatric looked to retire was Anwar Ibrahim but the two fell out and Anwar was charged and sent to prison on what many considered were politically motivated lies. A new face emerged when Najib  Razak became Malaysia's  prime minister and ruled until he became immersed in what was termed the "IMDB scandal ".  Billions of dollars mysteriously disappeared from a national wealth fund and much of it resurfaced in the prime minister's personal bank account.

By this time, Anwar had emerged from prison and was making progress to re-enter  politics.  Once again controversial evidence emerged and he was accused of sodonomy, which was a crime in Malaysia at that time.  Once again he was safely locked out of politics behind prison bars.

That ongoing IMDB scandal made Najib Razak's tenure as prime minister impossible and the nation went to the polls with Mahathir Mohamad emerging as the leading contender, running on a promise to step down in favour of Anwar in two years time. That was considered very acceptable as Mahathir was over ninety years old when he romped home as the new prime minister.

Now that two year term is up and the 94 year old prime minister is again looking to retire, but it seems that promise to step aside for Anwar is looking doubtful.  Politics in Malaysia is fragmented and the likely new government will be a coalition of six prominent political parties who are failing to find common ground behind Anwar.

Mahathir paid a visit to the king and was due to hold a press conference afterwards in which it was thought he would anoint Anwar, but that press conference did not eventuate and it was learned that Mahathir was at home, leading to speculation that another contender was being considered.

Twice Anwar has been close to attaining power and on each occasion he has been the victim of what many consider political plots to enmesh him in false charges.  He has a large public following and should the retirement of Mahathir from the job of prime minister lead to a general election he would probably prevail.  He promises reform and an end to the cronyism that has encumbered politics in Malaysia but achieving consensus with the other ruling parties would be difficult.

Mahathir had a prickly demeanour and was often out of step with public feeling in Australia but he supported a common defense relationship.  At least Mahathir delivered a degree of stability when we was in control of one of our nearest neighbours  !