Editor's Note - Issue 2004:2

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Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now.

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This special issue on the 11th general election was prepared in a rush so that it could reach you before polling day. Until the last minute, our contributors were sending in articles related to the election. Although the outcome of the election might seem a foregone conclusion, we felt there was a real need to raise awareness of the real meaning of democracy and free and fair elections.

But unlike the mainstream media, which is only interested in talking about the chances of a particular candidate or party winning in a particular area or state, we look at the elections in the light of the longer-term struggle for democracy.

In our cover story, Khoo Boo Teik discusses Abdullah Badawi�s initiatives in the context of two elections: the general election and the UMNO party election in the middle of the year. Although Abdullah�s position looks secure, the same cannot be said of his deputies.

John Hilley looks at the larger forces at play behind the Anwar saga. In particular, he anaylses power politics and �market justice�, which he says contributed to Anwar�s downfall.

Anil Netto highlights the need for the current anti-corruption drive to encompass the private sector too. Libau Rentap, meanwhile, looks at the fabulously wealthy first family of Sarawak: the house of Sarawak chief minister Taib Mahmud and wonders if the authorities will initiate an audit of the family�s assets.

Jeyakumar Devaraj focuses on poverty in Malaysia, which he argues is worse than what the rosy statistics suggest.

In our back cover story, Aliran calls on Malaysian voters to look beyond the elections to the larger struggle for democracy, justice and freedom.

That said, make sure you turn out to vote on polling day and vote for Democracy!