Hussein Onn
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Who Was Hussein Onn and Why Did His Quiet Years Matter?
Hussein Onn did not leave behind a strongman's voice, yet he shifted the country's direction through an anti-corruption storm and a succession decision
Hussein Onn took over as Prime Minister following the sudden death of Tun Razak, and only won a general election under his own name in 1978. Over the next three years, he continued the New Economic Policy, launched ASN, and built a clean image by not interfering in the Harun Idris case, while selecting Mahathir as Deputy Prime Minister. When health forced him to step down, the answer to succession was already written.
Twelve years ago, he was expelled from UMNO; in 1981, he returned to take over the entire government
Mahathir challenged the Tunku with an open letter after May 13 and was subsequently expelled from UMNO. He returned to Alor Setar to practice medicine, and wrote *The Malay Dilemma*, which was banned domestically. Tun Razak brought him back into politics, and Hussein Onn chose him as Deputy Prime Minister; the landslide victory in 1982 gave him a national mandate in his own name for the first time.