In July 1981, because of Prime Minister Hussein bin Onn's illness and his resignation, Dr. Mahathir was elected president of the UMNO and Prime Minister.
In1981, the Mahathir Government downgraded its relationship with the UK and declared its international priorities as ASEAN and the Organization of the Islamic Conference(OIC)
The downgrading of relations with Britain was part of his new "Look East Policy". Mahathir called for rejection of residual Western influence to be replaced by a development strategy in which Japan and South Korea would provide more relevant examples for Malaysia