kuala lumpur- The former Malaysian Prime Minister celebrates Mahathir MuhammadToday, Thursday, his 100th birthday, and spent the longest referee of 10 prime ministers who ruled Malaysia Since its independence in 1957, his name was associated with economic renaissance and ascension Nimur Asian In the eighties and 1990s.
He held the position of Prime Minister for the first time in 1981, and lasted 22 years without a real competitor until 2003, then returned to power again in 2018 in the wake of a major corruption scandal that ravaged the country, but he was unable to maintain his government coalition and had to resign after 20 months.
Mahathir was born on July 10, 1925 in the city of Alor Star, the capital of the state of Qudaha, in the northern Malay Peninsula (the western part of Malaysia now), and graduated in 1953 at King Edward College of Medicine at Malay University in Singapore.
He did not work long in the medical profession, where he was dominated by his political passion, lost his seat in Parliament in 1969, and was separated from the ruling party, but he returned a few years later to refer to Lebanon as the Malaysian policy engineer for decades.
Economic vision
The policy of orientation is built east in its international relations, and it is a metaphor for consolidating his country’s relationship with the economic powers in East Asia, especially Japan and South Korea, which enabled Malaysia to turn into the industrial economy and reduce dependence on the West.
He was very interested in developing the infrastructure in launching huge projects for external roads, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the administrative capital, Potragaya, and Burji Petronas in kuala lumpur(Which was the second highest twin towers in the world before the collapse of the World Trade Tower in New York in 2001), where they became the main Malaysia teacher who attracts tourists, and contributed to increasing the country’s income from tourism.
Mahathir’s ruling was subjected to the largest tremor in 1997 with what was known as the ASEAN financial crisis, and he refused to obey the conditions International Monetary Fund Or borrowing from it to get out of the crisis, and instead he adopted the strict control policy of the economy, controlling the local currency price (Rangeit), and limiting the smuggling of funds outside the country.
Mahathir reproduced the ruling party, the “United National Organization” United Nations (Security) And his rival at the end of the nineties, then he stepped down in 2003 to succeed Abdullah Badawi, but he returned again through the 2018 elections under the umbrella of the “Hope Alliance” that his partner was led in power and then his rival Anwar Ibrahim Who was serving a 5 -year prison sentence.
His alliance with the Democratic Labor Party, the party dominated by the Chinese minority in the opposition, was removed after two parties to it, and even warned against the party’s kidnapping of the state, but the opposition coalition succeeded in employing the corruption scandal that affected the sovereign fund known as “Malaysia One Development Company” (1 MDB) in which former Prime Minister Najib Abdel Razzaq was involved.
Setback
Mahathir pledged to the voters and members of the new coalition to leave power after two years in the event of winning the elections, and handing them over to Anwar Ibrahim after securing his release with a royal pardon, but he violated his promise and refused to give up under the pretext of returning the matter to parliament, as he decides to name the Prime Minister based on the majority.
With the arrival of the Alliance of Hope to rule, the era of the National Front Alliance led by “Amu”, which dominated power for more than 6 decades, ended, and Mahathir became the oldest Seni Prime Minister in the world by reaching 92 years.
But it was soon toppled through what was called the “Sheraton Movement”, when political leaders from the government and the opposition at the Sheraton Hotel met and agreed on what could be described as a “democratic coup” to reshape party alliances, so that “security” partner in power alongside parties from the government, from which Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim Khaldi came out.
Mahathir …. May God prolong his life … and revive his thought
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad is completing the hundred years today. He recently spoke with Time Magazine
On the current geopolitical climate.
Mahathir is a symbol of the head of a state with a vision, vicinity and sincerity
God bless his life and work
And reward him for his nation a lot pic.twitter.com/kyi1lthXN2– Amin Hassan Omer (@Abadiomera) July 10, 2025
Constant ambition
Mahathir Mohamed adopted privatization policies to accelerate development, including major companies such as the telecommunications and electricity company, and the foundations of the “Proton” national car project in 1980 in cooperation with the Japanese company “Mitsubishi”, with the aim of building a car industry base leading to an industrial base in the context of the transformation from an agricultural society to industrial.
In his 100th year, he did not stop his ambition to preserve his political heritage and protect the wealth of his entourage, which he was accused of by being through the policy of patronage, as his critics do not stop accusing him of surrounding himself with groups of influential people, and facilitating their interests, but he responds that he wanted to take out the less fortunate classes in society from the circle of poverty by enabling the owners of the capital of the Millions and motivating the majority.
Mahathir Mohamed confirms that in all his policies, he relied on the foundations set by former Prime Minister Abdel -Razzaq Hussein, the owner of the new economic policy that was adopted in 1971, after an ethnic struggle that almost slipped in the country into a civil war.
The new economic policy was 20 years defined, and it is based on the positive discrimination of the millions, so that it guarantees an appropriate share in education, administration and the economy, and its critics say that it has caused the spread of administrative corruption and increased the millions of citizens ’dependence on the state instead of motivating them to compete on the basis of competence.
Mahathir extended the new economic policy period for another 20 years under the pretext of reaching the level of developed countries in 2020, so that all citizens in the country become equal regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation, but this goal is still far -reaching in the opinion of many experts in the Malaysian affairs, especially since the country refuses to sign international agreements related to preventing all forms of discrimination, other human rights agreements, and joiningInternational Court of Justice.