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Article: Divided We, Er, Stand : Mahathir's going to win, but change is in the air.
- Article from:
- Newsweek International
- Article date:
- November 29, 1999
- Author:
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The favorite son of Kedah has not exactly showered his home state with favors. During his 18-year reign as Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad transformed the capital, Kuala Lumpur, into a megalopolis anchored by the world's tallest building. But he left rural regions like Kedah little changed. For residents of the dusty provincial capital of Alor Setar and the surrounding rice farms, it was enough that Mahathir grew up among them, the son of a fishmonger. Mahathir's ruling United Malays National Organization could count on their votes, and leave Alor Setar in the slow hands of men like Sanusi Junid, the bookish 56-year-old chief minister. Sanusi's palatial, ...