Eurasia Group | Dispatches from Kuala Lumpur: a former Prime Minister, His Protégé, and the Wolf of Wall Street 
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Malaysia Dispatch: A former Prime Minister, His Protégé, and the Wolf of Kuala Lumpur

Achmad Sukarsono
 
26 July 2016 | 09:05 AM ET
Mahatir
KUALA LUMPUR -- Can a 91-year-old national hero take his country back?

That was essentially the question I posed to Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's prime minister from 1981-2003, during a press conference last week in Kuala Lumpur. Mahathir, who is widely credited with modernizing the country and creating a period of sustained economic growth, is now leading a movement to unseat his former protégé, Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib has been battling corruption accusations linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund for more than a year.

Last Wednesday, the US Justice Department said it would seize assets linked to the misappropriation of 1MDB funds from three people, including Najib's stepson Riza Aziz, known mainly in the United States as producer of Martin Scorsese's screen adaptation of the "Wolf of Wall Street." While the DOJ did not name Najib, Mahathir said the announcement should be seen as "an indictment" of the sitting prime minister. The DOJ frequently referred to a person labeled as "Malaysia Official no. 1," whose description closely matches Najib during his tenure as head of 1MDB's advisory board.

I told the former prime minister that despite his age, he seemed fit enough to lead a populist march against Najib. Mahathir politely dismissed such a possibility, responding that Malaysians are too nice and reticent a people to stage a revolution.

The real obstacle, however, will not be the character of the Malaysian people, but the support the prime minister continues to enjoy from within his party, the United Malays National Organisation. As long as he can count on the backing of the largest political party in the country, Najib can weather whatever storm comes his way—from Kuala Lumpur, Washington, or anywhere else.
 
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