Mahathir Mohamad

Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who was the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and again from 2018 to 2020. He was the country's longest-serving prime minister, serving for a cumulative total of 24 years. Mahathir was granted the soubriquet "Father of Modernisation" ("''Bapa Pemodenan''") for his pivotal role in transforming the economy and infrastructure. At the age of 99, he is currently the oldest living former Malaysian prime minister.

Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir excelled at school and became a physician. He became active in the UMNO before entering the parliament of Malaysia in 1964 as the Member of Parliament for Kota Setar Selatan, serving until 1969 amid losing his seat, subsequently falling out with Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and being expelled from UMNO. In 1970, he released the book ''The Malay Dilemma''. When Tunku resigned, Mahathir re-entered UMNO and parliament through Kubang Pasu constituency, and was promoted to Minister of Education from 1974 to 1978 and Minister of Trade and Industry from 1978 to 1981. He became deputy prime minister in 1976 and in other cabinet before being sworn in as prime minister in 1981.

During Mahathir's first tenure, Malaysia underwent 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 several rivals for UMNO's leadership. He centralised power through undermining judicial independence and supporting a constitutional amendment to remove legal immunity for royalty. He continued pro-''bumiputera'' policies, and oversaw Malaysia's relatively fast recovery from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1987, he detained various activists and religious figures under Operation Lalang, and in 1998 had his deputy Anwar Ibrahim arrested. As prime minister, he was an advocate of Asian values and development models, and was particularly prominent across the Muslim world.

Mahathir resigned in 2003 after 22 years in office, but remained politically influential and was critical of his successors. He quit UMNO over the 1MDB corruption scandal in 2016, joining BERSATU and leading the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition to victory in the 2018 general election. During a second tenure as prime minister, he pledged to investigate the 1MDB scandal, combat corruption, and cut spending on large infrastructure projects. He also secured the pardon and release of Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir resigned in 2020 amidst a political crisis. Despite losing his parliamentary seat in the 2022 general election, he remained active in politics and shifted party affiliation several times. 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 Gerakan Tanah Air coalition in 2022. Mahathir played a pivotal role in leading the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan to victory in the 2018 general elections.

Mahathir's political views have shifted during his life, and are shaped by his Malay nationalism and Islamic religious beliefs. Provided by Wikipedia