Race politics could delay Malaysian reform
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In the aftermath of what has been dubbed the "mother of all elections", Malaysia's 13th general election (GE13) has provided evidence that the Chinese-Malay division in Malaysian politics has indeed manifested itself at the ballot box. Prime Minister N
Prime Minister Razak’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition retained power in the election in its worst-ever general election performance in 40 years. Najib’s coalition won 133 seats in the 222-member parliament, short of the two-thirds majority it lost in 2008. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance won 89 seats, up seven from the 2008 election but still well short of unseating one of the world’s longest-serving governments.
The GE13 has seen an increased polarisation between urban and rural voters. The opposition gained further ground in urban areas, which are made up of mostly ethnic Chinese who have been dissatisfied with decades of discrimination in business, employment and education, as well as a Malay-first rhetoric from UMNO (the United Malays National Organisation), the dominant partner in the Barisan Nasional coalition. The BN’s core voters are conservative Malay-Muslims in rural Malaysia, where the government’s fear-mongering has been used as a tool to win votes for decades.
Anwar’s promise to change race-based policies to make them more inclusive and needs based has created fear among rural Malay voters as they fear the privilege of being the ethnic majority would be taken away.
In the 1970s, Malaysia introduced policies that effectively split the country along ethnic lines, giving preferential treatment to the so-called Bumiputera, or ethnic Malays and natives of Sarawak and Sabah.
Najib has blamed his worst-ever electoral performance on a “Chinese tsunami” as the coalition lost the popular vote and was heavily abandoned by the Chinese minority. Ethnic Chinese, who make up a quarter of the population, have turned to the opposition. Chinese-heavy seats tumbled to the three-party opposition, whose Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP) was the alliance’s big winner, gaining nine seats to end at 38. (Ibrahim’s Justice Party has 30 and PAS 21).
Najib’s future is looking fairly limited, with UMNO facing its own internal issues. Najib could be following in the footsteps of his predecessor Tun Abdullah Badawi when he was forced to step down after being blamed for losing two-thirds of parliamentary seats in the 2008 election.
Internal reform will be a challenge for UMNO’s leadership as the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) went from 15 seats to 6 federally and to only 10 state seats. The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) won only four out of the nine seats it contested. The BN is effectively a Bumiputera government with little Chinese or Indian representation.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir has also blamed Najib’s poor electoral performance on the “ungrateful” Chinese and “greedy” Malay voters. Claiming that forming multi-racial parties is not possible, and a coalition of racial parties is the best way for Malaysia, Dr Mahathir warned that BN will break down if MCA withdraws.
As a result, major reforms are likely to be postponed until the leadership is decided. However, Najib has said he will press ahead with a US$444 billion economic master plan aimed at attracting investment and doubling incomes by 2020.
Moreover, Najib’s efforts to roll back other politically sensitive reforms such as the introduction of a consumption tax to reduce Malaysia’s dependence on oil revenues, and lowering fuel and food subsidies to tackle a chronic budget deficit, could be put on the backburner for now.
Vijitra Duangdee is a reporter at the World News Desk, Nation TV.
