ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to show how Mahathir modernized his leader ship according to a mindset that believes that the greater the preroga tives the more effective the leader. He lauds traditions but uses them only to drive the passion in his rhetoric for unity. He defies the conven tions that characterized the leadership style of his predecessors but cares sincerely about Malay values. He wants Islam to be an integral part of the moral society he envisions for his country. It is this Islam in him that superficially suggests his steadfastness to tradition and Malay conservativism which every bit he is not. For Mahathir is the epitome of modern leadership. He is modern but not westernized in the way previous prime ministers were. This chapter will cover his political career through the 1990s by which time, the Mahathir the world had known had taken on quite a transformation that portrayed him rather unfairly of a less kindly autocrat. Mahathir realized then that it was necessary to redefine his leadership to suit the changing political landscape. But he did that with little success. What he needed was a dramatic re-kindling of his latent brilliance. That opportunity came not inauspiciously with the Asian economic crisis in July 1997 when he showed there was much left of the vintage Mahathir. A dis cussion of Mahathir's leadership in the wake of the economic crisis will be covered in further detail later in this chapter.
