By Rehman Asif

Mahathir Mohamad, a former Prime Minister of Malaysia, has made a surprising comeback in the politics of Malaysia at the age of 92 years old.He was retired from the post in 2003, after 22 years at its helm. But came out of retirement to correct what he called "the biggest mistake in my life” – the elevation of incumbent leader NajibRazak to power.Having fallen out with Mr.Najib as well as the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, he is now leading his long-time foes, the opposition PakatanHarapan coalition into battle.

Mr. Mahathir’s political drive and combative spirit for what many view as the nearly
impossible task of toppling the ruling coalition is no surprise to Malaysians. Mahathir’s political career has spanned more than 70 years starting with his participation in protests against non-Malays gaining Malaysian citizenship during the Malayan Union through to forming his own party, the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM), in 2016.

During Mahathir’s first tenure as prime minister, Malaysia experienced a period of rapid modernization and economic growth, and his government commenced a chain of bold infrastructure projects. Mahathir was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections and fending off a series of rivals for the leadership of UMNO. However, his accumulation of power came at the expense of the independence of the judiciary and the traditional powers and privileges of Malaysia’s royalty. He deployed the controversial Internal Security Act to impede activists, non-mainstream religious figures, and political opponents, including the deputy prime minister whom he fired in 1998, Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir’s record of curbing civil liberties and his antagonism towards western interests and economic policy made his relationships with western nations difficult. As prime minister, he was an advocate of third-world development and a prominent international activist.

So the optimistic version of the story runs like this, Mahathir’s victory is a win for people power over corruption. His return will see justice done and corrupt public officials will get their comeuppance. Then he will be succeeded by Anwar, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail. Anwar is a highly capable and reforming politician who will unleash Malaysia’s full economic potential.

His outlined vision of 2020 wasaimed to make Malaysia a fully developed country within 30 years.One of Vision 2020’s features would be to gradual break down of ethnic barriers. Vision 2020 was accompanied by the New Economic Policies’ (NEP) replacement to the National Development Policy (NDP), under which some government programs designed to benefit the bumiputera exclusively were opened up to other ethnicities.The National Development Policy (NDP) achieved success out one of its main goals i.e. poverty reduction. By 1995, less than nine per cent of Malaysians lived in poverty and income inequality had narrowed. Mahathir’s government cut corporate taxes and liberalized financial regulations to attract foreign investment. The economy grew by over nine per cent per annum until 1997 prompting other developing countries to try to emulate Mahathir’s policies.

Malaysia-Pakistan relations refer to the bilateral foreign relations between two countries. His recent visit to Pakistan opened new avenues to better, improved and stronger ties between the two. He showed agreement on fighting against corruption and Islamophobia in alliance with Pakistan.“There is a feeling of fear and enmity towards Muslims across the world. The feeling of hatred is generated by the way things are reported in the media,” said Mahathir Mohamad. He always believed in winning people’s hearts. He expressed his feelings to increase trade with Pakistan and signed MOUs for five big project. In the endnote, it is optimistic to turn the coin upside down and see the optimistic version of the picture. We are happy to renew our relations with our neighboring country.