The 2004 general elections in Malaysia: A mandate to rule

Asian Survey

Volumn 46, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 319-340

  Moten, Abdul Rashid ^a   Mokhtar, Tunku Mohar ^a  

^a INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA   (Malaysia)

Author keywords

2004 elections; Badawi factor; Barisan Nasional; Fractured opposition; Islam; Malaysia

Indexed keywords

ELECTION; PARTY POLITICS;

ASIA; EURASIA; MALAYSIA; SOUTHEAST ASIA;

EID: 33646269049     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.2006.46.2.319     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. See Abdul Rashid Moten, "The 1999 General Elections in Malaysia: Toward a Stable Democracy?" in Akademika 57 (July 2000), pp. 67-86.
2. Sunday Straits Times, March 14, 2004.
3. For the 2004 general elections, only 505 seats were contested. The Sarawak state assembly, which has 62 seats, held its state election in 2001, and the next one is due in 2006.
4. Authors' calculation based on , accessed March 3, 200; and the Sunday Star, March 14, 2004.
5. See, inter alia, K. Ong, "The 2002 Delimitation Exercise: Systematically Favoring the BN?" in Aliran Monthly 22:8 (2002)
6. and Lim Hong Hai, "New Rules and Constituencies for New Challenges," ibid., 23:6 (2003), pp. 7-9.
7. Sunday Star, March 14, 2004
8. A deposit is a cash bond that must be lodged by candidates with the EC, to be returned if they achieve one-eighth of the total number of votes polled by all the candidates in the constituency, otherwise it is forfeited.
9. See Donald Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985).
10. See Diane K. Mauzy, Barisan Nasional: Coalition Government in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur: Marican and Sons, 1983).
11. New Straits Times, June 1, 1999.
12. Asiaweek, April 16, 1999, p. 21.
13. Puteri UMNO was created in 1999, with its membership open to Malay women aged 18 to 35. Its major aim is to gain support from young Malay voters, who were perceived to be more inclined toward the opposition.
14. BN, Toward a Malaysia of Excellence, Glory, and Distinction [2004 Elections Manifesto] (Kuala Lumpur: Barisan Nasional, 2004).
15. Ibid., p. 6.
16. Anwar, sacked from UMNO, was sentenced in 1999 to six years in prison for corruption and in 2000 to an additional nine years for sodomy, charges he denied and that many obsevers saw as fabricated and politically inspired. A federal court freed Anwar in September 2004, overturning the sodomy charges. However, he is barred from reentering partisan politics until 2008.
17. Manifesto Barisan Alternatif, 2004 (Kuala Lumpur: Panel Manifesto PAS and KeADILan, 2004).
18. Harakah, April 1-15, 2004.
19. Bumiputra (lit., son of the soil), refers to the Malays and natives of the Peninsula, Sabah, and Sarawak. In 1969, as an immediate response to the ethnic Malay-Chinese riot of May 13, the government introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP) to help the bumiputra compete economically with Chinese Malaysians.
20. "DAP Manifesto for General Election 2004," , accessed March 22, 2004.
21. Muhammad Hashim Kamali, Punishment in Islamic Law: An Enquiry into the Hudud Bill of Kelantan (Kuala Lumpur: Institute for Policy Research, 1995), pp. 11-18. The Shari'ah courts apply Islamic personal laws in marriage, divorce, inheritance, and related areas to Muslims in Malaysia.
22. "DAP Manifesto for General Election 2004."
23. Star, March 8, 2004.
24. New Straits Times, March 18, 2004.
25. See "Haul'em to Court, ACA Told," ibid., March 23, 2004.
26. New Straits Times, March 23, 2004.
27. The DAP deputy chairman said: "There is no doubt that the Barisan Nasional will form the Government, but we are going along the lines that DAP should be a strong opposition to ensure check and balance." See ibid., March 18, 2004.
28. Harakah, April 16-30, 2004.
29. New Straits Times, March 22, 2004.
30. Star, March 24, 2004
31. Harakah, April 16-30, 2004.
32. Star, March 22, 2004.
33. Pauline Puah, "Survey Confirms 'Pak Lah Factor' in BN Polls Victory," in , accessed September 19, 2004.
34. While in police custody in 1998, Anwar was beaten by Inspector General of Police Abdul Rahim Noor, who later confessed, was convicted by a court, and apologized as demanded by Anwar Ibrahim. The image of Anwar's black eye became the symbol of reformasi in 1999.
35. "Budget 2004: Building on Success, Investing for the Future," , accessed March 18, 2004.
36. Star, February 26, 2004.
37. Pauline Puah, "Survey: Media Coverage of Elections Slanted," in , accessed September 21, 2004.
38. Star, March 5, 2004. These convictions were mainly political: The vice president was convicted of making false declarations relating to Anwar's case, the youth chief for his exposure of official government documents implicating a minister in corruption, and the women's deputy chief for making alleged false statements on the government's mistreatment of illegal immigrants.
39. Hadi Awang claimed that the United States was protecting Abdullah because it feared PAS coming to power and that the U.S. "will never allow the establishment of an Islamic government anywhere." See Harakah, March 16-31, 2004.