Mahathir, the Malaysian dictator who became a giant killer

After two decades as Malaysia’s prime minister, during which time he sacked dissenting judges, censored inconvenient journalists, and dismissed various human rights issues, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister is back for a second crack at the job.

On Wednesday, 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad ushered in a nail-biting victory for opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan, leading its component parties to a convincing victory by scooping up 113 of 222 total parliamentary seats, bringing the decades-old Reformasi (reformation) movement to Putrajaya.

The irony, of course, being that there would have been no Reformasi without him – but Mahathir’s career has been full of such ironies.

Born the youngest of nine children in Alor Setar, Kedah, British Malaya in 1925, Mahathir was politically active from a young age, frequently speaking out for Malay rights during his university years in what is now the National University of Singapore.

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Upon his return to Kedah, he became active in the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and was elected to parliament in 1964. His bickering with then-prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, is thought to have delayed his first campaign for public office and hastened his exit when he subsequently lost re-election. Mahathir was expelled from the party for criticising its leadership and left in the political wilderness.

But Mahathir, known by some as “Tun M” or “Che Det”, excels at returning from the dead. He made MP in 1974 and was appointed to cabinet by the next prime minister, Abdul Razak Hussein – father of the man he beat in the polls this week.

From there, the course was set and his rise to power meteoric. But what shocked many was his turbulent relationship with his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim. Known for their father-and-son-like closeness, few would have anticipated the acrimony that accompanied their split.