New Politics In Malaysia by Francis Loh
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The Meaning of New Politics Ethnicity remains a very salient aspect of Malaysian politics. However, whereas ethnicity previously dominated the discourse and practice of Malaysian politics and posed limits on democracy, it no longer does so to the same predictable extent. Recent developments, especially those that occurred since 1998, suggest that a new discourse and politics of participatory politics has gained ground among Malaysians, particularly urban Malays. I refer to the emergence of the reformasi movement which contributed towards the formation of an opposition coalition that made the 1999 election uncharacteristically meaningful by offering a real choice to the voters. There were also new non-party voices � individuals, NGOs and other organizations - demanding justice, accountability, popular participation and an autonomous public sphere. But in spite of the ferment, the democratic impulse did not prevail. Some observers have resorted to ethnic factors to explain this lag between Malaysia and certain Southeast and East Asian countries where regime changes have occurred. My argument is that it is no longer ethnic factors but developmentalism, the cultural by-product of an economic dirigisme, successfully undertaken by a developmental state since the 1970s, which is principally responsible for limiting democratization in present day Malaysia. Put another way, this new political culture places value on sustained economic growth as well as the political stability which allows this growth to occur. However, the fact that democratic ferment is occurring while ethnic factors still appeal among certain groups suggests that Malaysia�s political culture has become fragmented. In other words, there are contestations between the discourses and practices of ethnicism, participatory democracy and developmentalism, as well as combinations of them (for instance ethnicism and democracy) as evidenced in the ethno-regionalist movements in Sabah and Sarawak, and the Islamist discourses and practices as well. The distinctions between the different discourses are used in this discussion as heuristic (or analytical) devices. For in the real situation they overlap with one another and are not mutually exclusive. New politics refers to this fragmentation and contestation in Malaysia�s political culture. BN's Narrow Win in 1999 The narrow victory by the BN in the 1999 election provides evidence of this fragmentation and contestation. As is known, the BN won 102 out of the 144 parliamentary seats in the Peninsula, and 148 out of the 193 parliamentary seats throughout the country. In the contest for seats in the eleven state assemblies in the Peninsula, the BN won 281 of 394 seats contested. Although the BN won 76.7 per cent of the parliamentary seats, it polled only 56.5 percent of the popular vote (compared to 65 percent in 1995). Leaving aside Sabah and Sarawak, it is useful for analytical purposes to divide the 144 constituencies in the Peninsula into:
(Alas, the Indians do not constitute a majority in any of the constituencies and analysis of the pattern of voting among Indians can only be conducted at the level of the voting district or saluran. Based on a limited number of studies, it appears that a majority of Indians tended to vote for the BN rather than for the BA which is not surprising for a weak minority group. However, this finding should be considered tentative). The BN�s victory was gained essentially because it performed spectacularly in the semi-urban multi-ethnic constituencies where it captured 60 of 61 seats. Of course, the BN also won all 28 seats in Sarawak and 17 of 21 seats in Sabah (including Labuan) in sealing its overall victory. Marginal Seats Less well known is that 26 parliamentary seats in the Peninsula were won by less than five per cent majorities, and another 24 seats which were won by 5 to 10 per cent margins. (Of this total of 50 marginal seats, 29 were won by the BN, 21 by the BA). This means that more than one-third (50 out of 144) of the seats in the Peninsula were won by slim margins. And if an additional 5 to 6 per cent swing in favour of the BA had occurred, and if the BA had captured all the 29 marginal seats won by the BN � two big �if�s� - the election in the Peninsula might have ended in a dead heat ! At any rate, it was the first-past-the-post (or simple majority) electoral system which is used in Malaysia, and the BN�s ties with the dominant regional parties in Sabah and Sarawak (ties which the BA lack altogether), which enabled the BN�s victory, indeed, its regaining a two-thirds majority in Parliament. In fact, the BN�s actual victory in the Peninsula was a slim one. Also hardly realised was the fact that both the Malays and the Chinese were actually split down the middle.
The Two Realms of Politics There are, of course, the formal and the non-formal realms of politics. The formal realm is the one involving the executive and the bureaucracy, the judiciary as well as the legislative assemblies and parliament. The political parties and the electoral process are also part of this formal sector. This realm is overwhelmingly dominated by the BN coalition. The non-formal sector is that realm of politics wherein ordinary people, sometimes organized as NGOs or other informal groupings, express themselves peacefully. It is not readily or necessarily related to the political parties or with elections. By comparison there exists more scope for manoeuvring in the non-formal realm. The significance of the 1999 election was that NGOs and other informal groups usually more concerned with specific causes � women�s rights, media freedom, rule of law, corruption, environmental degradation, improved working conditions, land rights, etc - directly engaged this time with the formal political process. This dramatic turnaround had everything to do with the dual crises � i.e. the 1997 financial crisis and especially the �Anwar saga�, (Anwar�s sacking from the cabinet, his expulsion from UMNO, and his subsequent arrest, prosecution and sentencing to jail.) The demands of Anwar�s supporters quickly moved beyond concern for Anwar�s well being to issues such as rule of law, justice for all, curbs on corruption, cronyism and nepotism, repeal of the ISA and other coercive laws, etc. i.e. the issues championed by the NGOs. This counter-discourse, which the NGOs had initiated and kept alive throught the 1990s as developmentalism held sway and consolidated its grip over the Malaysian public, was subsequently adopted not only by the leaders of the reformasi movement, but by the new keADILan party, as well as by the new opposition coalition, BA. In addition, some of the leaders of the NGOs also joined one or another of the BA parties and even contested in the 1999 election. But it must also be stressed that although some NGOs engaged with the electoral process directly, they continued to maintain their independence and did not join any of the BA parties (see Aliran Monthly vol 22 no11/12 for more details). The point also is that the BN had lost its previous hegemony over the public, especially the NGOs. There occurred, therefore, New Politics - not only the fragmentation of the ethnic communities but also open contestation of the ruling BN ideas. The Future It is not clear whether the New Politics will manifest itself again in the next election. There are considerations of agency and institutional constraints involved. For one, the DAP has since left the BA coalition and there might not occur again the one-on-one contests which occurred in 1999 throughout the country. More importantly, with its two thirds majority, the BN government passed amendments to the Election Act and the Election Offences Act in 2002 which were generally detrimental to the opposition. A new re-delineation exercise was also concluded in 2003 resulting in the creation of additional seats especially in the semi-urban areas where the BN had performed so well in 1999. No additional seats were added to Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah where PAS had performed well. Instead, Sabah has an additional 5 seats, Johore another 6 seats, Pahang 3 seats and Penang 2 seats - all of which are states where the the BN had performed well. As mentioned earlier, the realm of formal electoral politics is dominated by the powers-that-be, i.e. the BN. Finally, in the aftermath of September 11 and increased anxiety especially among non-Muslims about militant Islam, there have arisen concerns about PAS�s alleged connections to the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), and by extension the Jemaah Islamiyya, allegedly the al-Qaeda�s proxy in the Southeast Asian region. Although there has been no evidence of such PAS connections whatsoever, nonetheless, the dramatic change in the international political climate has had its knock-on effects in Malaysia. This has resulted in fear of PAS� intentions � not helped by the fact that PAS has seemingly focused on its goal of realizing Islamic rule in Terengganu and Kelantan. And whereas many Malaysians are imbued with developmentalism, PAS, it appears, has not given due attention to economic matters. Consequently, PAS�s rule in the two states has not inspired much confidence especially among Malaysians living outside the two states. Meanwhile the BN has consolidated itself through a series of victories in the Sarawak state election and other by-elections, the PBS� return to the BN, and Dr Mahathir�s enhanced international status as the voice of moderate Islam. Indeed, his criticism of the US invasion of Iraq in early 2003 furthered his status as a leader of the Islamic countries too. Under the circumstances, it is likely that New Politics might not manifest itself in the forthcoming election. However, this does not mean that there does not exist New Politics. New Politics continues to be evident especially in the non-formal sector of participatory democracy. The New Politics of fragmented ethnic communities and of contestations of political ideas is here to stay.
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The significance of the 1999 election was that NGOs and other informal groups usually more concerned with specific causes � women�s rights, media freedom, rule of law, corruption, environmental degradation, improved working conditions, land rights, etc - directly engaged this time with the formal political process.
