'I was the dictator': 92-year-old brings a new era to Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur: "You may ask questions, but in a very orderly fashion. Please remember, I was 'the dictator'," Malaysia's new prime minister Mahathir Mohamad says.

The meeting room on level 3D of the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya roars with laughter.

Laughter as prime minister Mahathir Mohamad addresses a news conference on Thursday.Credit: Bloomberg

The clock is just about to strike midnight but Mahathir, 92, is just getting started at this press conference, his fourth in 24 hours.

A huge crowd of supporters and a press pack that has swollen to hundreds of correspondents from around the region are on hand to witness the end of 61 years of one-party rule.

Twenty-four hours earlier, and six hours after polls had closed in Malaysia's historic 14th general election, Mahathir had delivered a blunt warning to the man he once mentored, Prime Minister Najib Razak, as well as the nation's Electoral Commission and even the state's security services to play by the rules, finish counting the votes and respect the rule of law.

The wily Mahathir, wary of Malaysia's old guard objecting to a transfer of power to the opposition after all this time, has sent exactly the right signals to the royal families, the Electoral Commission and the state's security services in the last 24 hours to ensure change took place.

Of course he knew how to do it. For 22 years, Mahathir was the old guard, the prime minister, leader of the ruling Barisan Nasional and the figurehead in a system he has now helped tear down as a reborn democrat.

Fallen idol: A giant campaign billboard of defeated incumbent Najib Razak looms over the highways of Kuala Lumpur.Credit: AP

A six-hour swearing-in delay at the royal palace hinted at the behind-the-scenes turmoil as Malaysia finally, peacefully, transitioned to a new political era.

The new-old leader of this nation of 31 million people set about reassuring Malaysians his government would be pro-business, pursue billions of dollars siphoned off by Najib and his cronies in the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal, and get rid of repressive laws.

At a time when democracy has been in decline throughout the region and the world, the majority-Muslim nation of ethnic Malays (60 per cent), Chinese (20 per cent) and Indians (8 per cent) has defied expectations and finally, fully embraced change.

According to Professor Clive Kessler of the University of NSW, who has studied Malaysian elections since 1967, the fact Mahathir could joke about being a dictator says a lot.

Mahathir Mohamad, now 92, is sworn in by Malaysia's constitutional monarch, Muhammad V.Credit: Bernama via AP

"This is someone concerned about his place in history, who is aware of the criticism people have made of him, and he will see this as his opportunity for redemption and to secure his place in history.

"The problems facing this new government are great, they are inexperienced and while they presented a united front to defeat Najib, they aren't really united. It's also unclear how much institutional resistance, from the public service, police and the judiciary, there will be to change."

But according to the ANU's Malaysian politics expert Amrita Malhi, so far the signs are quite promising.

"The royal families, police, and military all seem to be keen to show the public that yes, the transition will happen. There will be plenty of challenges, but the opposition’s campaign did not give the sense that they would launch a full-frontal assault on institutions and structures that many Malay Muslims, in particular, hold dear," she says.

She also disagrees with suggestions that the incoming government is inexperienced.

"Many in their ranks have been around since 1998, when Mahathir first sacked Anwar [Ibrahim, his then deputy prime minister], and they’ve worked for two decades to have the chance to implement democratic reforms."

The Mahathir-Anwar relationship is one of the most fascinating aspects of this election.

Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of Anwar Ibrahim and now Malaysia's deputy PM.Credit: AP

Years before Mahathir mentored Najib, he mentored Anwar. The pair fell out, spectacularly, over Anwar's desire for reform and at the turn of the last century, he was jailed on trumped-up sodomy charges.

That Anwar and Mahathir could reunite to take down Najib – Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is now Mahathir's deputy prime minister – speaks volumes about the desire for change.

Wan Azizah, incidentally, is one of the greatest heroes of this moment after taking over the opposition leadership more than a decade ago, after Anwar was jailed.

Anwar is due to complete his second stint in prison on a second set of trumped-up sodomy charges, brought during Najib's rule, on June 8.

Amnesty International’s Malaysia researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said the new government should immediately release Anwar  and abolish a raft of repressive laws, such as Najib's "fake news laws", which were designed to stifle debate online.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, left, with senator Nick Xenophon in Jakarta in 2014.Credit: Michael Bachelard

This may actually happen. Mahathir said Thursday night "we want to abolish laws that are oppressive and unfair", referring to the fake news law.

And he has promised repeatedly in recent days that he will seek a royal pardon for Anwar, so he can re-enter politics, and then hand over the prime ministership to him (though on Thursday night he would not put a date on when exactly this will happen).

As Kessler puts it: "Mahathir won’t live forever, and while it won’t be easy to get a royal pardon, my sense is that the intention is to hand over. I think he is genuine."

Among the key promises the new government has made are scrapping the very unpopular GST, stabilising Malaysia's currency, the ringgit, and reviewing major infrastructure projects such as the China-funded East Coast Rail Link (which is part of the Belt and Road initiative). This won't be easy, either.

The heads of some government agencies and departments, cosy with the government, are in Mahathir's sights for "aiding and abetting a prime minister who the world condemned as a kleptocrat".

Protesters with an effigy of the luxury yacht Equanimity, which belongs to businessman Jho Low, one of the figures at the centre of the 1MDB sovereign wealth scandal.Credit: AP

That could prompt the some of the institutional pushback referred to by Kessler, but would likely have the overwhelming support of ordinary Malaysians.

Many questions remain about the unexpected, unlikely "reformasi" moment that confounded analysts and swept Malaysia's old order aside this week.

It will be years before some of the answers become clear.

This was a victory for the Malaysian people. And, arguably, it was one only Mahathir Mohamad, the veteran autocrat-turned-democrat who promised a "Malay tsunami" of votes, could deliver.