October 31, 2003
Mahathir Mohammed has finally stepped down (also here) as prime minister of Malaysia after 22 years that combined strong economic growth with nagging political repression. Bizarre as some of his comments have been, he was a masterful politician who managed to build coalitions with the least likely groups to stay in power.
The articles don't say much about his successor; it'll certainly be interesting to see if Badawi, who's generally known as a technocrat, can display the same political savvy in a country with massive racial, class, and a religious rifts.
I'll be interested to see if his successor tones down the anti-semitic nonsense that got Mohammed a standing O' at the Organization of Islam Conference.
well Badawi probably won't have the same over the top flamboyant leadership style of Mahathir, but he'll have to find some way to placate the Islamic population, which has been moving to the right...
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