Novice Cabinet forces ‘old Mahathir’ to do ‘everything’, says Economist

The influential financial journal says it's back to vintage Mahathir again despite cosmetic changes since the May election.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad may have his plate full with his decision to personally deal with major issues in Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) first 100 days of power, causing him to revert to his old “autocratic” ways backed by his “cronies” in the form of an advisory council of elders, The Economist wrote in its editorial today.

The influential London-based magazine said this was due to an “inexperienced Cabinet”, which was forcing the 93-year-old prime minister to become “chief of everything”.

“This creates a bureaucratic bottleneck as he ponders investigations into 1MDB, diplomacy (he has already taken two trips to Japan and is due to visit China on Aug 17) and ways of boosting economic growth (expected to be about 5% this year, down from nearly 6% in 2017),” it wrote.

It said this was also why fulfilling the pledges made by PH during the general election was difficult.

“PH made bold pledges about what it would achieve in office. But the disparity of experience between the fledgling ministers and their grizzled leader is hindering its efforts.”

The Economist said despite PH partners long championing issues such as greater transparency and human rights, Mahathir had been ruling “in the way he knows”.

“He favours the advice of cronies, as well as of an unelected council of bigwigs selected by himself. His autocratic style can make people jump,” it said, in apparent reference to the five-member Council of Eminent Persons led by Mahathir’s closest associate, Daim Zainuddin.

It said while Mahathir often joked about his excesses during his first tenure as prime minister some two decades ago, it was clear that he was not willing to share power with other members of the coalition.

His decision not to assume the finance portfolio as he did during his previous term in the late 1990s was also a smokescreen, the magazine suggested, adding that it had only “superficially” reduced his responsibilities.

Despite several “unusual” moves by him, including the appointment of an ethnic Chinese (Lim Guan Eng) as finance minister and the separation of government commissions from the Prime Minister’s Department, The Economist said much of the system that the new government inherited – well entrenched during Mahathir’s first 22 years in office – was also unlikely to undergo reform.

“The new government is unlikely to attempt radical reforms to racial policies that favour indigenous people, for example in admission to public universities and recruitment for government jobs.

“The ruling coalition hangs together in part because all of its parties have agreed to uphold this system. Politicians of every stripe fear a backlash from ethnic Malay voters should their privileges be curtailed,” it wrote. -FMT

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