Mahathir bin Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the fourth and seventh prime minister of Malaysia. He held office from July 1981 to October 2003 and later from May 2018 to March 2020 for a cumulative total of 24 years, making him the country's longest-serving prime minister. His political career has spanned more than 75 years, from joining protests opposing citizenship policies for non-Malays in the Malayan Union in the 1940s, to forming the Malaysian United Indigenous Party in 2016, Homeland Fighters Party in 2020 and Gerakan Tanah Air in 2022.
Mahathir excelled at school and became a physician. He became active in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) before entering the Parliament of Malaysia in 1964. He served one term before losing his seat, subsequently falling out with Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and being expelled from UMNO. He wrote The Malay Dilemma during this period, which formed the basis of future ethnic Malay affirmative action policies in the country.
During Mahathir's first tenure as prime minister, Malaysia experienced a period of rapid modernization and economic growth, and his government initiated widespread industry privatisation and a series of bold infrastructure projects. Mahathir was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections and fending off a series of rivals for UMNO's leadership.
Mahathir’s long prime ministry gave Malaysia the political stability needed for economic growth. He welcomed foreign investment, reformed the tax structure, reduced trade tariffs, and privatized numerous state-owned enterprises. Mahathir sought to bridge Malaysia’s ethnic divisions by increasing general prosperity. The New Economic Policy, which had encouraged Malay economic success, was replaced in 1991 by the New Development Policy, which emphasized general economic growth and the elimination of poverty. Under Mahathir’s leadership, Malaysia prospered economically, with a growing manufacturing sector, an expanding middle class, rising literacy rates, and increased life expectancies.