Mahathir Mohamad

Mahathir bin Mohamad, born in 1925 in Alor Setar, Kedah, is a physician-turned-politician who became Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister. He first led the country from 1981 to 2003 as head of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the Barisan Nasional coalition, then returned to office from May 2018 to March 2020 as leader of the Pakatan Harapan coalition after defeating his former protégé Najib Razak in the wake of the 1MDB corruption scandal.

His first tenure is associated with the "Vision 2020" development blueprint, launched in 1991, which aimed to make Malaysia a fully developed nation. He oversaw large infrastructure projects including the Petronas Twin Towers, the Multimedia Super Corridor, and the new administrative capital Putrajaya. Economically, he championed an export-oriented industrialization strategy and a "Look East Policy" emulating Japanese and South Korean models. During the 1997–98 Asian Financial Crisis, he broke with IMF orthodoxy by imposing capital controls and pegging the ringgit to the US dollar, a decision later credited by some economists with stabilizing the Malaysian economy.

In foreign policy, Mahathir was a prominent voice of the Global South, championing South-South cooperation, criticizing Western dominance of international institutions, and proposing an East Asian Economic Caucus. He frequently clashed with Western leaders over human rights and currency speculation, notably blaming George Soros for the 1997 crisis. He was also a vocal critic of Israeli policy toward Palestinians.

His domestic legacy is contested. Supporters credit him with transforming Malaysia into a middle-income industrial economy. Critics point to the 1988 judicial crisis, the use of the Internal Security Act against opponents, the 1998 sacking and prosecution of Deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim, and entrenchment of ethnic preference policies under the New Economic Policy framework. His brief 2018–2020 return ended when his coalition collapsed amid the so-called Sheraton Move.