What changed Mahathir’s mind?

That is the question. There was a time that Mahathir abandoned his protege, Anwar Ibrahim. He was grooming him to be his successor then.  This was at the height of the Asian financial crisis and Mahathir’s guns were trained against currency dealers. He accused the group as rapacious, interested only in money even if it harmed nations.

I was in Kuala Lumpur at the time of the trial of Anwar Ibrahim and Mahathir put a distance between him and his protege saying we have different policies. 

The bone of contention between them was the role of currency dealers and eventually the power of international financial institutions like the IMF. When I asked him why he said Anwar differed from his policies against currency dealers he vent his anger on George Soros who became famous because of the money he made – $1 billion – when he predicted that the British pound would fall. He became famous as an “expert manipulator of currencies and made his fortune on this.”

 Anwar did not take the same view as Mahathir about currency dealers. Naturally those who defended him were the Western countries and the currency dealers to the extent of exchanging harsh words in a meeting in Hong Kong with Soros calling Mahathir a moron. They have since made up.

Mahathir Mohamad now 92 is the oldest prime minister in the world. But this was the way chosen to get Anwar Ibrahim to be prime minister. Mahathir was in Manila at the height of the debate on constitutional amendment on which is the more superior government – parliamentary or presidential. You cannot turn around an economy in six years, especially in a country like the Philippines where politics means destroying nationbulding by putting down whatever government is in power. Even democracy can be harmful when we need a strong hand in government. He gave his government as a good example with FVR by his side.  He governed Malaysia for more than two decades. 

It is to his credit that he was able to steer his country out of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. He was able to hold on his own attacks against international financial institutions like IMF which he regarded as unhelpful. He campaigned for other countries like Singapore to support him in modulating the power of institutions like the International Monetary Fund.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the feisty Malaysian leader has not lost his verve.

 “Currency trading doesn’t create any jobs or spin off any business. What we should do is stop this silly thing called currency trading. This idea that the market should fix the exchange rate is a new thing.

“There’s no point in treating a currency like a commodity, devaluing it artificially and causing a lot of poverty among poor countries.” 

On Islam he defended its strength. “We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.” 

He has been criticized as anti-semitic for statements like “The Jews are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively.” “The Malay Dilemma”

“I am glad to be labeled anti semitic.” – Writing on his blog in 2012.

On the early days of his conflict with Anwar he said “I cannot have a person who is like that in my cabinet who may succeed and become the prime minister. Imagine having a gay prime minister. Nobody would be safe.” – September 2005

“The belief that I dismissed him because I was afraid he would oust me is without basis. I dismissed him for two reasons only: he was unsuitable to continue serving in the Government and he was unsuitable to succeed me as Prime Minister.” – Mahathir’s 2011 book “A Doctor in the House,” on his sacking of Anwar as his deputy during the Asian financial crisis. “I may have made many mistakes, but removing Anwar was not one of them.”

“The Malays are spiritually inclined, tolerant and easy-going. The non-Malays, and especially the Chinese, are materialistic, aggressive and have an appetite for work. For equality to come about, it is necessary that these strikingly contrasting races adjust to each other.” 

“I achieved too little result from my principal task, the task of making my race a race that is respected, a race that is honorable, a race that is highly regarded.” 

Anwar as former opposition leader was considered the greatest political threat to prime minister Najib Razak, but a ruling bans him from running in 2018 election.

He lost a final appeal to have his prison sentence for sodomy overturned and served out the remaining 16 months of his sentence in jail.

Significantly the ruling means Anwar will not be allowed to contest the next election in  2018, which the opposition saw as their best chance to unseat prime minister Najib Razak and end his ruling party’s six decades in power.

A five-member panel of judges ruled unanimously that there was no merit in Anwar’s application for a review of his 2014 conviction, his final legal option for an acquittal.

“We will not proceed to examine the applicant’s review application,” the court said.

Malaysia needs democracy. I’m in prison for that belief – but I won’t change, countered Anwar.

At his last trial  there were hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Palace of Justice.

Anwar was led into the dock by more than a dozen prison guards. His wife, daughters and grandchildren were present. After the ruling he told reporters: “It is not the end of the road.” That was prophetic.

 And it rested on the will of Mahathir when he changed his mind about siding with Najib and realized the scope of his corruption. Anwar was freed. Even if it  took 15 years for Mahathir to change his mind.