EYES SEE

By MIRIAM CORONEL FERRER

Malaysia is described in academic texts as a semi-democracy and as “neither authoritarian nor democratic”. The balance now seems to tilt in favor of democratic ideals (what a pity that ours is being pulled down towards the opposite). Slowly we see this movement away from the constrictions of race-based electoral voting pattern.

The Clinton-Obama battle for the Democrat’s presidential candidacy is creating unprecedented excitement over the US election primacies around the world. But we don’t have to look far to feel the heat of an election fever. Right across our seas in the south, Malaysians still find themselves sleepless with either glee or anxiety as election results brought the greatest upset ever for the ruling party.

The election outcome has undoubtedly ushered a new era for the political opposition. For the first time since independence, the ruling alliance called the Barisan Nasional lost its two-thirds majority of the seats in Parliament, and five of 13 federal states to the three major opposition parties.

The results may not be a total upset since the Barisan remains the majority. But the polls showed that, for one, Anwar Ibrahim is back in politics with a vengeance; for another, that a qualitative shift is taking place in the voting behavior of the populace.

Malaysian political parties are structured mainly along racial lines: Malay, Chinese and Indian. Malays made up approximately one-half of the population, the Chinese one-third, and the Indians, one-fifth. Based on simple addition, the Malay votes were always the most crucial.

The Barisan pulled together an elite representation of the three major races through the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), and the Malay Indian Congress (MIC). During the years of high economic growth, this UMNO-led front got the combined votes of the multi-ethnic population even as the Chinese and Indian parties submitted themselves to secondary roles in the state and society.

About 20 years ago, that stable arrangement for the Barisan was threatened when another Malay-based party rose to cut back on the UMNO’s base. This is the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). Almost all Malays are Muslims so there is that confluence of a Malay-Muslim identity. PAS highlights the Islamic aspect of that identity to a greater degree. It is strong in Malay-dominated states, particularly in Kelantan, where it has held state leadership in the last 18 years. In this election, it also secured Kedah state. Also, its seats in the National Parliament grew from only three to 23, indicating that the number of Malays being alienated from UMNO continues to grow.

The Democratic Action Party (DAP), although constituted as a multi-ethnic entity, still draws its base from the Chinese. In this election, it won the highest number of seats in two Chinese-dominated states, Penang and Perak. From seven seats in the Parliament, it now has 28.

To its credit, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) that was created after the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, successfully began and sustains a multi-ethnic character. Its advantage is that with Malay stalwarts like the Anwars, it is able to cut further into the Malay vote. On the whole, its votes come from all three races, indicating that more people are now voting based on political platform. This cross-racial voting was also shown in the victory of Manoharan Malayalam, an ethnic Indian activist who has been in jail for organizing anti-discrimination protests. He ran as the DAP candidate in a Chinese-dominated state.

Although the newest among the three opposition parties, the Keadilan (Malay word for justice) secured the majority of seats in the state of Selangor. From three seats in the Parliament it now has 31, two of which will be taken by Azizah and Nurrul Izzah Anwar, Anwar’s wife and 28-year old daughter. Nurrul Izzah amazingly beat the powerful and more senior UMNO female minister for women, family and community.

Another old guard who was thrashed in the election was the head of the MIC Samy Vellu. In all, the election results registered a high rate of alienation of the Chinese and Indian votes from the Barisan. And while the UMNO still holds the grip on the Malay majority, it cannot but feel the threat posed by the PAS and PKR.

High inflation, growing crime, and perceived inaction over brewing ethnic tensions by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi were identified as the key issues that defined this election. But this is not all. Democracy issues were certainly also a motive force. The lack of independence of the courts, the appalling ease with which the government clamps down on protests, and the lack of concern for the poor – whether Chinese, Indian or Malay – as the state pursued its economic goals were the issues that propelled to victory the likes of Manoharan, the Anwars, and several other activists like the anti-globalization academic Charles Santiago to victory. To borrow from Obama’s campaign, "CHANGE that we believe in" was a powerful theme.

Malaysia is described in academic texts as a semi-democracy and as "neither authoritarian nor democratic". The balance now seems to tilt in favor of democratic ideals (what a pity that ours is being pulled down towards the opposite). Slowly we see this movement away from the constrictions of race-based electoral voting pattern. Given their shared multi-ethnic and democracy-based agenda, the alliance between the DAP and Keadilan flows almost naturally. It remains to be seen how the PAS opens up to a more pluralistic agenda, and how the other two can have enough trust and confidence to work with the Islamic PAS, to eventually bring the country to a post-Barisan future.

(E-mail:mcf178@yahoo.com)