Amien Rais Stark Contrast from Mahathir Muhammad, Says Expert

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indo Barometer Executive Director Muhammad Qodari says there are several factors that differentiates Mahathir Muhammad from Amien Rais.

The differences, he said, makes Amien’s odds on winning the 2019 Presidential Election incomparable to the situation Mahathir faced in Malaysia’s election.

“Pak Amien wants to vie in the election after being inspired by Mahathir Muhammad, but I argue that both situations are a far cry from each other,” said Qodari on Monday, June 11.

Previous reports suggest that Amien Rais plans to run for president in the upcoming presidential election in 2019. 

Read: Amien Rais, Prabowo Meet in Mecca during Umrah

Amien openly admitted that he was inspired by Mahathir. “Even though this ol’ Amien Rais is already old it’s alright. As soon as Mahathir was elected, I became a teenager again,” said the National Mandate Party (PAN) politician last week.

However, Qodari said the difference was that Mahathir had been in power as prime minister in the past, and had arguably been successful in leading Malaysia in a long period of time. He then compared it to Amien Rais, who has never had the experience of spearheading a government and had only served as the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker. 

Read: Amien Rais to Accept 2019 Election Results Upon 4 Conditions

Qodari further compared the two by highlighting the situation surrounding Mahathir’s success, which was also down to the alleged corruption case of incumbent prime minister candidate Najib Razak. The case which was later known as the 1Malaysia Development Berhard (1MDB) case.

FRISKI RIANA