POLITICAL LEADERSHIP ROLE OF MAHATHIR MOHAMAD

Abstract

In this research article, the researcher studies the background, roles, and the path to political power of Mahathir Mohamad as the Prime Minister of Malaysia between 1981 and 2003. Findings are as follows:
1. Familial socialization, educational institutions, and groups of friends constituted the background influence on Mahathir Mohamad’s political role as Prime Minister. He played a political role by becoming a political activist from the time he was a student of medicine until becoming a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). This background was the foundation for the political behavior of Mahathir Mohamad.
2. In regard to his path to political power, Mahathir Mohamad has maintained power by reducing the power of the two Sultans who were political activists in their states, dismissed Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, demoted another Minister of Finance, and suspended members of the UMNO Party. 3. In his role as political leader as Prime Minister between 1983 and 2004, Mahathir Mohamad played important roles in the implementation of the Japan-oriented Look East Policy and in respect to his plan for Malaysia to become a developed country by 2020. He determined the policy of maintaining the value of the ringgit as Malaysia’s currency so as to solve the economic crisis of 1997-1998. He also promoted Asian values in addition to proposing a concept of an East Asia Economic Group. All of these factors converged to the end of Mahathir Mohamad being able to assume an outstanding role on the basis of a standpoint in which one follows one’s own direction as well as being a role model for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He is internationally accepted.