After 20 years in power, can anything persuade the strongman to step down?
A LESSER autocrat would be slinking towards the exit by now. Mahathir Mohamad is beset by crumbling support among the Malay majority, growing disaffection within the Chinese ethnic minority and sporadic, but nonetheless shocking, public criticism from a handful of judges and respected members of his own party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Moreover, an economy that is slowing sharply, without having recovered from a collapse three years ago, will add to Dr Mahathir’s worries in the coming months. Yet, as he prepares to celebrate 20 years as prime minister on July 16th, Asia’s longest-serving elected ruler is voicing doubts about everyone but himself. In a rare understatement last week, the 75-year-old Dr Mahathir neatly summed up his opponents’ and some would say his country’s enduring burden: “I’m afraid they’ll find it difficult to get rid of me.” This, it must be noted, is at odds with the official line. Dr Mahathir has suggested several times in the past few years
