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Introduction: Awakening, Transformations and the Abdullah Badawi Years

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posted on 2023-05-22, 15:51 authored by James ChinJames Chin, Welsh, B
Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, or more popularly known by his nickname Pak Lah, has secured his place in Malaysian political history as the country’s fifth prime minister. Known for his affability, he was welcomed into office in 2003 after the 22 year iron-fist tenure of his predecessor Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. However, five years later he became the country’s only prime minister who was forced to resign even after winning a general election. Unlike many other countries, a mere victory in Malaysia’s polls by the ruling National Front coalition or Barisan Nasional (BN) is not seen as ‘good enough’. In Malaysian politics, the ruling party judges its victory by whether or not, it gets the two-thirds majority in parliament. Abdullah failed to reach this marker in the 2008 general election. Ironically, in 2004, Abdullah’s BN had won by a landslide, taking 198 of 219 seats. In percentage terms, this translated into 90 percent of the seats in parliament and was the largest victory ever for the governing coalition. Although he was not expected to perform at the same level in 2008, it was not expected that the BN would lose its two-thirds majority. In 2008, the BN won the general election by 58 seats, or 63 percent of the seats. Within a year of the results, Abdullah was forced to retire and hand over the reigns of the party and government to his deputy Najib Tun Razak. He stepped down from office on 1 April 2009, after 1,979 days in office.

History

Publication title

Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia

Editors

Bridget Welsh & James Chin

Pagination

23-62

ISBN

978-9675832789

Department/School

School of Humanities

Publisher

Strategic Information and Research Development Centre

Place of publication

Kuala Lumpur

Extent

37

Rights statement

Copyright 2013 Bridget Welsh and James U.H. Chin

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Government and politics not elsewhere classified

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