Opinion | Malaysia boleh: Mahathir’s return to power is more than a palace coup. It is a new era of hope
The victory of Pakatan Harapan has broken a barrier in the Malaysian psyche, raising hopes for a recalibration of the country’s race-based politics
The catchphrase “Malaysia Boleh” or “Malaysia Can” evolved as a national slogan in the early 1990s, rallying citizens around the proud vision of a tiger economy aspiring to developed nation status. Over time, it came to be used by those very citizens in a mocking tone, deriding their Southeast Asian nation, and especially its government, for its bumbling ways.
But since the night of May 9, spirits have been soaring again as Malaysians try to grasp, still in disbelief, the potentially monumental changes they have set in motion.
Mahathir sworn in as Malaysian prime minister
Malaysia is on the cusp of a revolution from above, as its 14th general election finally ousted the hegemonic coalition that has ruled without interruption for six decades. The Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance, led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), lost decisively at both the federal and state levels.
Surveys will probably show that people’s anger with the state of the economy, including the hugely unpopular Goods and Services Tax, was the main reason behind BN’s devastating loss of popular support.
But ground-level discontent with BN is nothing new. A courageous and dogged protest movement emerged two decades ago, starting with Reformasi and morphing into Bersih. They deserve credit for never giving up the dream of change.
Ironically, Malaysia’s new prime minister-elect, Mahathir Mohamad, is the very leader whose stranglehold on the polity from 1981 to 2003 unleashed the Reformasi movement that at one point saw citizens tear-gassed on the streets of the capital. He is now the leader that Malaysians yearning for change are banking on.