The New Nation - Internet Edition

Luqman Ong

The National front (BN - Barisan Nasional) coalition party of Government in Malaysia - led since Mahathir Mohamad stepped down in 2003 by his anointed successor, the soporific Abdullah Badawi - woke up with a jolt on post-general election day to the jubilant cheering of a loose coalition of opposition parties that are now in control in four states in peninsular Malaysia.

The BN Government now retains power in the 219-seat Parliament by only a simple majority, reducing its unfettered powers to change laws. The rag-tag opposition under the Barisan Rakyat (BR - Peoples Front) in one corner, and the Islamist PAS (Malaysian Islamic Party) in another, with a combined strength of 82 seats can now have a louder voice in Parliament, but in Malaysia it is in the states that the pull and tug of everyday politics are at play.

Malaysia is a Federation of thirteen states that were once pink tiles in the great mosaic of the British Empire. Of these, eleven are in peninsular Malaysia in the west, and two straddle the northern part of the great island of Borneo in the east. A vast body of water separates East Malaysia from its Western part and the political diversity between the parts is even bigger. It is to demography that one has to turn for a better understanding of political tensions. Roughly, Malaysia is divided by ethnic groups and religions, in a mix of many political colours.

It is this mix that makes Malaysian elections both interesting and volatile. In 1969, non-Malay voters showed how cross they were with the Government that had been ruling them since Independence (Merdeka) by transferring their crosses to ballot papers. As a result the mainly Chinese dominated political parties made many political headways. Some, spurred by the new political strength, made taunting noises at the "defeated" Muslim Malays during celebration rallies, though other versions say that it was the Malays who gave vent to their political anger by literally taking up their cudgels. Whatever the truth, the result was very ugly: riots broke out, mostly in the tourist island of Penang in the north-western peninsula, and in Selangor, the most prosperous state that hosts the Federal capital. Parliament was suspended, race-relations set back many years, and Malaysia was ruled under emergency powers by what was known as the National Operations Council.

In 1971, when Parliament was restored and democracy returned, there was much political rancour in the air, and racial misgivings were simmering to the boil. When the BN continued to rule after the disturbances, they introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP) designed to give the native populations (the Malays and the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, known collectively as the bumiputra, lit. "sons of the soil") a greater share in the national economy. That, said the political masters, was the root of all the troubles.

Life continued nevertheless. The ruling coalition chugged along, powered by the internal tension of its ethnic-based component parties; the Malays held on to what was left of their political power, the Chinese did what they are best at in finance and trade, and the Indians continued life in the professions and in working the sprawling estates. This is just a general demarcation that could lead to stereotypes. Infact there are many Chinese politicians, as many of Malay entrepreneurs as there are tilling the land, and there are many Indians above and many more below. Visitors to prosperous Malaysian towns can be forgiven if they believe that they are in Chinese towns, though some may feel the Malay and Indian undertow.

As the Malaysians got back to work, the misgivings about race and money continued to simmer, and if they did not come to the surface more often than they should it was because there was enough money for all. Or so it seemed.

The shock results in the last elections reducing Government powerless, was the result of many misgivings on a bed of subdued racial turmoil. The election is a figure in a varied background of shocking colours, many, no doubt, resulting from the short-sighted "vision" of the erstwhile Prime Minister Mahathir who rode Malaysia to gleaming prosperity at home and fame - some say notoriety - in the international arena. Mahathir was a business manager with little savvy for the political or social direction of the country.

He taunted many foreign enemies - some, like the one against international financial speculators, he did with success and panache - but there were many homegrown ones too that he thought he could sideline by his foppish ways. One was Anwar Ibrahim, a man with political nous and his former anointed deputy. He despatched Anwar to court and eventually, prison, on charges that ranged from corruption to sodomy. Mahathir, like many leaders with personal and political strength, suffered one major disability. He was unable to countenance a political equal, so, after Anwar, he appointed the political weakling and the much over-rated politician Abdullah Badawi as deputy and heir.

Anwar fought a very impressive campaign against Mahathir while inside prison, and he wasted no time rallying his supporters once his jail term was over. He gained many supporters among Malay Muslims, though to simply focus on them would be unfair to his far broader appeal. Because of his past conviction, he was not be eligible for elections until the end of March, and even thus disabled, he is still the only credible candidate among the opponents of BN to take over the helm of power. The Islamist PAS has no clout outside its peninsular east coast bases of power, or so it seemed. To outmanoeuvre Anwar and his broad-based Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR - Peoples Justice Party), Badawi called for elections for March 8, before Anwar was enabled for politics again. Abdullah also made the mistakes of setting an over-long campaign period, underestimated the strength of the opposition coalition, the Barisan Alternatif (The Alternative Front of Anwar's PKR) and the Chinese dominated Democratic Action Party, DAP; and failed to resolve the unrest among dispossessed Hindu Indians who have now found a rough and ominous voice in a group that calls itself Hindraf, the Hindu Rights Action Force.

While the Malays divided even further, the Chinese, ever resentful of the NEP, decided to throw in their lot with the PKR but mostly with the DAP. Kelantan, traditionally a PAS state in the peninsular north-east, returned PAS with even greater power, but bigger surprises awaited Badawi. By the combined force of the opposition, Perak, Selangor, Kedah and Penang states on the prosperous West coast of the peninsula fell to the opposition. Badawi has the reputation of being a man who falls asleep at crucial hours; now he has been jolted awake by a political nightmare.

Will Anwar return to politics? Definitely. At the end of March, when his enforced abstinence ends, his wife (who has been holding his political seat in the meanwhile) will step down and force a by-election where Anwar will be returned with a comfortable majority. Will Badawi go? It is very likely that the dominant Malay party in the Government coalition, UMNO, will throw him out as a liability. But with the standing of the Government's Chinese and Indian component parties now shattered and the opposition baying for power, there are interesting times ahead in this fragile country.

(Source: Muslim News, London)