KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has arrived in New York on Friday to receive the 2012 Rafik Hariri UN-Habitat Memorial Award. He was accompanied by his wife, Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali. Mahathir, 87, was named winner of the award in June by the award's steering committee in recognition of his leadership, statesmanship and good governance. The award, named after the late prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, was established by the Hariri family jointly with the UN-Habitat through the Rafik Hariri Foundation in March 2009. “It is given to individuals, organizations or institutions worldwide for significant accomplishments in the areas of leadership, statesmanship and good governance; construction and reconstruction of settlements and communities; human resource development; and benevolent activities in fighting urban poverty and the implementation of the Habitat Agenda,” said the award. The previous winner of the award was the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was also recognized in the category of leadership, statesmanship and good governance, especially during his time as Mayor of Istanbul in the mid-1990s when he hosted the second UN Conference on Human Settlements. It led to the establishment of UN-Habitat as a fully-fledged UN program tasked with promoting adequate shelter for all. Nazek Rafik Hariri, widow of Rafik Hariri and president of the Rafik Hariri Foundation, had said during the announcement of the winner that her husband was very impressed with the achievements of Mahathir. “Their relationship was based on the shared interests of building confidence and economic success for their respective nations,” she said. The late Lebanese prime minister had visited Malaysia several times while he was in office. In September 2004, Rafik Hariri, who held office five times, was recognized with the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor, Special Citation, the highest United Nations award granted for achievements in the field of human settlement. UN-Habitat scientific advisor Prof Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, speaking on behalf of the steering committee, had described Dr Mahathir as “a remarkable individual who did remarkable things for his country”. “Malaysia was on its way to considerable economic progress during Mahathir's time. It is recognized that he significantly influenced all other developing countries on how it was possible to develop in a very rapid way in a very short time,” he had said. The international jury chairperson Mervat Tallawy had said: “The per capita income in Malaysia during his (Mahathir's) time increased eight times. The model of thinking to get out of problems and crises was almost the same as that of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.” A UN-Habitat statement released during the announcement had attributed Malaysia's rapid modernization and economic progress to Mahathir. “He was a dominant political figure who won five consecutive general elections and remains an active political figure during his retirement,” it had said. Mahathir's political career spanned almost 40 years, with 22 of them in the capacity of prime minister between 1981 and 2003.
