After a tussle between coalition parties, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, world’s oldest leader – aged 94, has resigned from his post on February 24. Change in Malaysian government presents Malaysia an opportunity to resolve its spat with India. India’s ties with this Pakistan-ally deteriorated after Mahathir criticized CAA and the Abrogation of Article 370. In retaliation, India had curbed Palm Oil imports from Malaysia.
Crux of the Matter
Betrayal = Politics? Malaysian politics saw a number of twists and turns in the last 2 days involving a series of events leading to the collapse of the government. The ‘Pact of Hope’ alliance came into crisis after rivals within the coalition and opposition politicians held talks to try to form a new government. Mahathir’s Malaysian United Indigenous Party met officials of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the Islamist PAS party. After unsuccessful talks between the coalition of PM Mahathir’s Party and Anwar Ibrahim’s People’s Justice Party (PKR) on February 22 and 23, Mahathir’s Malaysian United Indigenous Party quit the coalition leading to the collapse of the government. On February 24, Anwar Ibrahim denounced a betrayal by saying, “those within my party and outside both were trying to bring down the government.” He also accused Mahathir’s party as ‘traitors’ of plotting to form a new government with the UMNO.
The PM had resigned not because he wanted to outmaneuver Mr. Anwar but because he was disgusted with members of his coalition who had plotted to join with UMNO. – Lim Guan Eng, Malaysian Finance Minister
Adding to the turmoil Mahathir announced that he had quit his own party. Later he submitted his resignation to the king after which he was asked to remain as an interim PM. Anwar’s party also saw a split as the Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali quit the party with 10 of its elected members.
Foes became Friends Anwar had served as Mahathir’s deputy during his first term as PM but he was sacked in 1998 after a disagreement on managing the financial crisis at the time. This lead to deteriorating ties between them and later Anwar was jailed for sodomy. In 2018, Anwar and Mahathir united to form a coalition which led to a landslide victory in the general elections and ousted the UMNO party that ruled over 6-decades. In their alliance, it was agreed that Dr. Mahathir would eventually hand power to Mr. Anwar but the current political scenario suggests that Mr. Anwar’s party would be kept out of power. Dr. Mahathir has repeatedly resisted transferring power to Anwar which resulted in the increased tensions within the alliance.
Indo-Malay Spat India imports nearly 4.4 million metric tons of palm oil from Malaysia. After strong remarks by the Malaysian PM on India’s decisions of Article 370 and Citizenship Amendment Act restrictions were put on on import of palm oil resulting in huge losses for Malaysia. In October 2019, Malaysian PM Mahathir had said, ‘India invaded and occupied Kashmir‘ and In December he said, he was ‘sorry to see that India, which claims to be a secular state, is now taking action to deprive some Muslims of their citizenship.’ To compensate this loss, Pakistan had jumped in and had announced to buy more palm oil from Malaysia. Malaysia expressed its desire to solve the trade spat through diplomatic talks in Davos but the Indian Commerce Ministry has repeatedly objected to Mahathir’s statements and refused all discussions.
Curiopedia
Mahathir bin Mohamad is a Malaysian politician who previously served as the prime minister of Malaysia. He was appointed prime minister in 1981, retired in 2003, and returned to the office in 2018. He is the chairman of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, as well as a member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Langkawi constituency in the state of Kedah. 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. More Info
Anwar bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician who is currently the president of the People’s Justice Party. Anwar had served as the Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998 and Finance Minister from 1991 to 1998 when he was a member of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). However, he was removed from his post by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and jailed in April 1999. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2015. Anwar was sentenced to five-year imprisonment after a second sodomy conviction in 2015. He received a royal pardon from Sultan Muhammad V and was released from prison in May 2018 in the aftermath of Pakatan Harapan victory in 2018 general election. After which he made a come back as an MP by contesting and winning the Port Dickson by-election. More Info
Curated Coverage
The New York Times – Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Resigns
AlJazeera – Malaysia’s Mahathir resigns but is asked to stay as interim PM
The Star – India says no meeting with Malaysia in Davos as palm row simmers
Reuters – Pakistan pledges to buy more Malaysian palm oil to compensate for India’s withdrawal
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