Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad (pronounced [maˈhadir bin moˈhamat] ; born 10 July 1925[1]) (Jawi:محتير بن محمد) was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister, and one of the longest-serving leaders in Asia.[2] Mahathir's political career spanned almost 40 years, from his election as a Malaysian federal Member of Parliament in 1964, until his resignation as Prime Minister in 2003.
In his book "The Malay Dilemma", Mahathir proposed a politico-economic solution in the form of "constructive protection", quoting reasons that the Malays are behind other races due to heredity and environmental factors. Tun Abdul Razak, the second prime minister who succeeded Tunku Abdul Rahman, adopted some of Mahathir’s proposals in New Economic Policy (NEP) that was principally geared towards affirmative action economic programs to address the nation's economic disparity between the Malays and the non-Malays. When Mahathir succeeded Tun Hussein Onn as the Prime Minister, he enhanced many elements and widened the scope of NEP. The NEP as we see today is by and large due to Mahathir and his cabinet, e.g.:
* Initially, only tenders for small contracts were restricted to bumiputras only. Open tenders were still invited for large contracts.
* Towards the end of Mahathir’s tenure, many large contracts were awarded to bumiputra contractors without any open tenders but on negotiation basis. In majority of the contracts, non-bumiputra contractors are not allowed to tender. This practice continues until today.
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