Mahathir expects Malaysia’s economy to rebound from coronavirus but foes get no credit

Former prime minister believes Malaysia can recover sooner than many other countries but accuses current government of ‘doing too much politics’

Mahathir singles out PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s reluctance to convene parliament to ratify stimulus measures or discuss raising debt-to-GDP ratio

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Mahathir Mohamad (right) in 2018, beside Muhyiddin Yassin, who replaced him as prime minister earlier this year. Photo: AP

Published: 12:00pm, 13 Jun 2020Updated: 5:05pm, 13 Jun 2020

Malaysia’s economy has been battered by the coronavirus recession but according to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad it is not all doom and gloom, provided the current government is willing to act.

On the contrary, Mahathir told This Week In Asia he believed the country had a “good opportunity” to rebound sooner than its regional competitors because of its steady handling of the public health crisis and signs consumer demand is already stirring.

“Recovery becomes very difficult because lots of people are not able to earn any money at all … But despite all that, I think Malaysia has done much better than most other countries, especially in the handling of the pandemic,” Mahathir said.

“For example, people are now able to move around, go to the shops, walk around as long they accept that they must follow certain procedures that the government has implemented. While the economy now is not doing well, there is good opportunity for us to recover much earlier than others.”

Mahathir resigned as prime minister in February after the split of his multiracial alliance, Pakatan Harapan, which was replaced in government by Perikatan Nasional. He emphasised that the new administration, which came to power in March, deserved little credit for any successful recovery.

“On the whole, the government is doing too much politics, and [is not showing] strong consideration as to the performance of the economy,” Mahathir said during the 75-minute interview.

Mahathir was replaced as prime minister by Muhyiddin Yassin, a former ally who now relies heavily on the support of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and Najib Razak, both tainted by the 1MDB financial corruption scandal. Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition, which was dominated by Umno, was defeated by Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition in landmark elections in 2018.