|
Mahathir bin Mohamad[mAhA´tir bin mOhAm´Ad] Pronunciation Key, 1925–, Malaysian political leader. A doctor by training, he first entered parliament in 1964 and rose in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), holding several ministerial posts in the 1970s, including deputy prime minister beginning in 1976. Prime minister since 1981 of a UMNO-led National Front coalition government, he has sought to make Malaysia an industrial nation and develop Malay businesses, and has promoted nonindividualistic "Asian values." Although Malaysia has made enormous and rapid economic progress under Mahathir, political stability has been maintained by not tolerating dissent and restricting political freedoms, and his government has been denounced for human-rights abuses.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2009, Columbia
University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
|
Topics
that might be of interest to you: |
• Malaysia
|
|
