Edging toward a new politics in Malaysia: Civil society at the gate?

Asian Survey

Volumn 49, Issue 5, 2009, Pages 741-758

  Weiss, Meredith L ^a  

^a STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK   (United States)

Author keywords

Anwar Ibrahim; Barisan Nasional; Civil society; Elections; Malaysia

Indexed keywords

CIVIL SOCIETY; ELECTION; PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL CHANGE;

ASIA; EURASIA; MALAYSIA; SOUTHEAST ASIA;

EID: 70350368061     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: 1533838X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.2009.49.5.741     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. "Malaysia's Election: Political Tsunami?" Economist, March 10, 2008, at
2. "Malaysia PM Rejects Calls to Quit," BBC News, March 9, 2008, at .
3. See Francis Loh, "Understanding the 2004 Election Results," Aliran Monthly 24:3 (2004), at , accessed June 12, 2008, for a succinct overview.
4. Such roles are among those detailed in Meredith L. Weiss, Protest and Possibilities: Civil Society and Coalitions for Political Change in Malaysia (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006).
5. Government under the UMNO-MCA-MIC Alliance coalition, predecessor to the larger BN, more closely approximated a consociational model. While that label still tends to be applied to the communal order in Malaysia, a control model, which stresses the imbalance across partners and elements of coercion in the alliance, is more appropriate today. See Ian Lustick, "Stability in Deeply Divided Societies: Consociationalism versus Control," World Politics 31:3 (1979), pp. 325-44.
6. Dynastic patterns were clearly apparent. Among the victors were not just Anwar's daughter but also his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail; Mahathir's son, Mukhriz; Lim Kit Siang's son, Guan Eng; and Abdullah's son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin.
7. "Making Sense of the 2008 General Election Results," Malaysia Votes March 9, 2008, , accessed June 12, 2008.
8. For a thorough examination of these voting patterns, see Terence Gomez, "Umno Still Strong in Malay Heartland," Malaysiakini, June 4, 2008, . The statistics provided here are widely accepted estimates; given the lack of exit polls, precise determination of individual-level voting behavior is impossible in Malaysia. Estimates for voting by ethnic group, for instance, are generally determined from the final vote tally and demographic breakdown at the lowest level for which results are available (usually at the constituency or polling station level).
9. Among the more trenchant early assessments of factors in the BN's decline is Bridget Welsh, "Election Post-mortem: Top 10 Factors," Malaysiakini, March 12, 2008, .
10. The majority of BN and PAS voters, on the other hand, cited other motivations: Party loyalty for the former and "Islamic and Malay rights" for the latter. Merdeka Center, "Peninsula Malaysia voter Opinion Poll: Perspectives on Issues, the Economy, Leadership, and Voting Intentions," March 14-21, 2008, , accessed September 1, 2008, slide 45.
11. The Alliance was the immediate post-independent ruling coalition comprising UMNO, the MCA, and the MIC. The BN succeeded the Alliance after the 1969 elections, following a 21-month period of emergency rule.
12. The gamut of manifestos is available from the Center for Public Policy Studies, at , accessed June 12, 2008.
13. Precursors to that arrangement were the leftist All-Malaya Council for Joint Action and Malay-based Putera Tenaga Raayat (Center of the People's Power), which collaborated as two conjoined coalitions to present alternative "People's Constitutional Proposals" in 1947.
14. Anwar entered Parliament several months later, after winning an August 2008 by-election in his old constituency, Permatang Pauh, by a landslide. His wife vacated the seat for him.
15. Quoted in Baradan Kuppusamy, "Politics-Malaysia: Civil Society Leaders Enter Election Fray," Inter Press Service, February 13, 2008, .
16. Experiences such as disruptions to the "Article 11" initiative, a campaign for religious freedom with which Haris had been involved in 2006, as well as lawsuits against bloggers Ahirudin Attan (a.k.a. Rocky) and Jeff Ooi, inspired the blog. Shahanaaz Habib, "Fighting for the Right to Speak," The Star, May 18, 2008, . Haris subsequently joined the defense team for fellow Barisan Rakyat organizer and blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, charged with sedition in connection with his writings.
17. Peppering blog postings and the like regarding the BR initiative were references to the multiracial aspirations of American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.
18. "Malaysia: DAP Denies 'Barisan Rakyat'," Sin Chew Daily, March 6, 2008, .
19. Haris Ibrahim, "Barisan Rakyat: We, the Rakyat, Must Lead the Way," The People's Parliament, March 13, 2008,
20. also from the same blog, S. V. Singam, "Who Is Barisan Rakyat?" March 14, 2008. Terminology proved confoundingly slippery, though. Haris announced that the group would endorse a slate of candidates (bloggers and others) who would form a Barisan Rakyat but also that the Barisan Rakyat would rally support and pass a "cyber-hat" for those candidates online. Ahiruddin Attan, "Enter the Online Barisan Rakyat," My Paper (Singapore), February 21, 2008, at .
21. PKR was then Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN or Keadilan). It became PKR upon merger with Parti Rakyat Malaysia in 2003. For details on the BA and 1999 elections, see Meredith L. Weiss, "The 1999 Malaysian General Elections: Issues, Insults, and Irregularities," Asian Survey 40:3 (2000), pp. 413-35.
22. Soon Li Tsin, "Barisan Rakyat vs Barisan Nasional," Malaysiakini February 23, 2008, .
23. PAS declined to field female candidates for 30 years after the 1969 elections, breaking the trend (justified in terms of conditions on the campaign trail) only in 2004.
24. Yet, in mid-June, PAS Youth announced plans to study how best to implement harder-line Islamic laws in Pakatan-controlled states, setting naysayers chattering anew.
25. Issues such as the malapportionment of seats are less likely to be addressed, despite their clear impact: The smallest constituency has fewer than 7,000 voters and the largest, over 112,000; sparsely populated Sarawak, now so critical to the BN's survival, has more seats than any other state.
26. The candidate, the late Zaitun Kasim, also represented the WCI in 1999, running under the DAP flag. She was forced to withdraw from the race this time for health reasons.
27. "500,000 visited Malaysiakini on Poll Night," Malaysiakini, March 10, 2008, . Even so, in one recent poll, a minority of Malaysians - around 13% - ranked the Internet among their top three sources of election-related news. Within that cohort, Malaysiakini is the most heavily frequented portal. Merdeka Center, "Peninsula Malaysia Voter Opinion Poll," slides 20-21.
28. Lee Wei Lian and Toh Mei Ling, "New value: Cyber Wars," The Edge Daily, February 25, 2008,
29. Kasee, "Cyber Troopers Battle for voters," Malaysia Today, February 17, 2008, .
30. Ong Kian Ming, "Making Sense of the Political Tsunami," Malaysiakini, March 11, 2008, .
31. Quoted in Kuppusamy, "Politics-Malaysia."
32. Alex Au, "Government Web-wary in Singapore," Asia Times Online, April 24, 2008, .
33. Making full use of the Internet and purportedly inspired by Barack Obama's campaign in the U.S., Nik Nazmi even outlined his manifesto in YouTube videos.
34. John S. Dryzek, "Political Inclusion and the Dynamics of Democratization," American Political Science Review 90:1 (1996), pp. 484-86.
35. Quoted in Shahanaaz, "Fighting for the Right."
36. In fact, a pre-election poll found that support for the BN first dipped below 50% only around the end of February. Responses suggest it was the conduct of the campaign - particularly the BN's "infighting" and "paralysis" versus the opposition's "discipline" - that really turned the tide. Merdeka Center, "12th General Elections: Observations on Issues, Voting Directions, and Implications," March 12, 2007, , accessed September 1, 2008, charts 26-27, 34.