마하티르의 정치적 유산과 압둘라 바다위의 정치리더십

Abstract

Mahathir Mohamad is the most controversial figure ever to hold the premiership of Malaysia. By the end of his 22-year tenure, Mahathir became Malaysia's presidential premier, holding decisive control throughout the political system and in particular within the United Malay National Organization(UMNO), the ruling party of Malaysia. This paper examines how the 22-year tenure of Mahathir deeply affected Malaysia's political system and argues that the transition of political leadership from Mahathir to Abdullah Badawi might provide the favourable conditions for the liberalization of Malaysia's personalized political system. With less than four years of Mahathir's retirement, it is hard to focus mainly on the Abdullah Badawi's leadership. This paper, therefore, deals with the transitional leadership from Mahathir to Abdullah Badawi. In particular, the paper figure out the nature of political crisis during the last few years of Mahathir's ruling and summarize the political legacies of Mahathir's personalized politics. This paper also examines how the new leadership of Abdullah Badawi has dealt with the Mahathir's political legacies since the ascension of Abdullah Badawi as prime minister. In doing so, this paper draws an attention on the nexus between the transitional political leadership and the regime change in Malaysia.