After all has been said and done, the winds of change did happen indeed. and it was not only a wind, it was a typhoon. The political landscape in Malaysia will be witnessing major structural changes and the growing force of the opposition cannot be dismissed. The onus is now on the opposition who controls 5 states (3 major ones i.e. Penang, Perak and Selangor) to prove that they can walk the talk.
Back in 2004, the electorate gave PM Abdullah's government an unprecedented 92% of total votes casted. That was more than a landslide by any yardstick. It threatened to pummel the oppositions into oblivion, and history to remember them as once having a presence in Malaysia.
But what a (rather expected but still surprising) turnaround! Malaysia is a young country, where voters are generally satisfied with the growth achieved for the past 50 years, and people attributed the achievement to the incumbent coalition government. Status quo has remained the same despite a few attempts by the opposition to galvanize the voters to make the change. In the year 1995, there were huge crowds at opposition-held rallies, but that failed to translate into real votes. In fact, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) almost got a complete wipe-out led by their leader Mr Lim Kit Siang. The strongest challenge in recent times happened in the year 1999, when the popular and charismatic , then deputy PM Mr Anwar Ibrahim, was sacked and jailed rather abruptly. It was Dr Mahathir's final election as the PM, and he got through amidst a significant reduction in majorities of votes casted.
What has happened now? Never before has the opposition controlled states like Perak and Selangor. Penang was once under the then opposition Gerakan founded by Dr Lim Chong Eu, but it later joined the BN coalition. Suddenly, not only constituencies, but states are beginning to fall like nine-pins to the opposition's lose coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS. Where and how did the voters find the courage to sacrifice the period of stability and status quo to bring in the new voices, would need serious post-election analysis. This year will go down as one which is very significant for the political landscape in Malaysia. If the opposition controlled states would see important changes from the past government and bring the desired justice and eliminate corruption, we might see the opposition even taking over the federal level government as well! We would then see a country with 2 major parties, National Front and People's Front Party. But only if the opposition do not each pursue their own agenda, and are willing to be tolerant and work towards a common ideology.
Some interesting post election changes has already been seen. In the state of Perak, where the majority of seats are won by DAP, the opposition has surprisingly got together quickly and elected a chief minister from the Islamic PAS party. It is indeed a great chance for PAS to prove that they are no longer the conservative, extremist party, but one which is tolerant and can bring benefits to other races. Personally, I am sceptical. Perhaps the people had enough of what they perceive as a lack of fairness and justice in Malaysia. It is a strong rebuke to the Government coalition.
What will the federal government do now? Will PM Abdullah, who is seen as weak, make way for his deputy Najib Tun Razak? Or will we see the strong arms tactic that will stifle democracy after this unexpected upset in the elections? Interesting 4 years ahead for Malaysia.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
Will the wind of change turn into actual votes?
I was having a discussion a couple of days ago with a fellow Malaysian, who is a law student in UCLA. It seems rather interesting that while US is thousands of miles away from Malaysia, both are witnessing an exciting year due to the election process taking place.
In the US, there is more euphoria than ever being generated by two Democratic party candidates, Mr Obama and Ms Clinton. Usually, at least in the past 2 presidential elections, the excitement on the ground is always on the formidable Republican party and their election machinery. Queues would form at their voting grounds. What is happening today is the opposite. There are also reports saying that registered republican supporters are joining in the fun at the Democratic primaries as well!
It is certainly good, even for the citizens of other countries, to see this happening in the US. We are (apart from the US people) just simply sick and tired of the current administration, the way they handled the war in Iraq and their constant unwavering and totally convicted support of their ally, Israel. I mean, what has China or Russia done that deserve you to label them as threats when Israel kills their neighbors all the time? Well, of course we cannot make presumptions that the President-to-be will have a different stand. But we are all hopeful (desperately? ) that things will change, and the sole superpower will demonstrate more sensitivity and humility in the face of other nations.
So we have seen that there is talk about a strong winds-of-change brought about by the Obama camp. It is of course too early to judge whether Obama will walk the talk or simply just talk the talk. While Clinton has proven that she has the experience and the backing to be the president, we cannot but doubt her sincerity to bring about a change in the attitude of the US and to provide a good, clean, uncorrupted leadership to the US. While I do not think that President Bush is a bad person, i believe he had his hands tied down by factions from the money generating oil companies or whichever other money-motivated cronies the family might have. Obama brings about a freshness and a willingness to depart from the way things have been for a long time in the white house. So, we go on to hope, with his ideals.
In parallel, there is the election which is about to happen in Malaysia tomorrow (Mar 8th) and the talk is that many parliamentary seats (or even states) will go to the Opposition party. This is judged by the huge amount of crowds turning up at Opposition-held ceramah or speeches, while the Govt held events only attract a proportionally much smaller crowd. And the opposition leaders are riding on the events happening in the US to galvanize the Malaysian electorate that the wind of change is blowing here too. Exactly what practical changes that they can bring for the benefit of the people, we do not yet know. One thing is for certain, the rhetorics have been coming, fast and furious, and the people have been entertained by them. So, the post-election analysis, we will get to know whether the people are buying it, or this is simply another flash in the pan.
In my opinion (which may not be so accurate given that i have not been on the ground, been living in Malaysia permanently for the past 9 years), i feel that seats will go to opposition not because of their strengths but because of the infighting in the government party and also general unhappiness over the leadership provided by the current Prime Minister. We are ashamed and jaded by all the constant out-in-the-open bickering and fall out among ministers and politicians who hold prominent positions in the government. But can the opposition offer a real alternative? I am quietly hopeful they will gain more force in parliament, and not to become an insignificant part of the Malaysian political system, like in neighboring Singapore.
So as we hold our breath, awaiting the outcome of the elections, we can only pray that something good will turn out in the end... same for the US presidential elections.
In the US, there is more euphoria than ever being generated by two Democratic party candidates, Mr Obama and Ms Clinton. Usually, at least in the past 2 presidential elections, the excitement on the ground is always on the formidable Republican party and their election machinery. Queues would form at their voting grounds. What is happening today is the opposite. There are also reports saying that registered republican supporters are joining in the fun at the Democratic primaries as well!
It is certainly good, even for the citizens of other countries, to see this happening in the US. We are (apart from the US people) just simply sick and tired of the current administration, the way they handled the war in Iraq and their constant unwavering and totally convicted support of their ally, Israel. I mean, what has China or Russia done that deserve you to label them as threats when Israel kills their neighbors all the time? Well, of course we cannot make presumptions that the President-to-be will have a different stand. But we are all hopeful (desperately? ) that things will change, and the sole superpower will demonstrate more sensitivity and humility in the face of other nations.
So we have seen that there is talk about a strong winds-of-change brought about by the Obama camp. It is of course too early to judge whether Obama will walk the talk or simply just talk the talk. While Clinton has proven that she has the experience and the backing to be the president, we cannot but doubt her sincerity to bring about a change in the attitude of the US and to provide a good, clean, uncorrupted leadership to the US. While I do not think that President Bush is a bad person, i believe he had his hands tied down by factions from the money generating oil companies or whichever other money-motivated cronies the family might have. Obama brings about a freshness and a willingness to depart from the way things have been for a long time in the white house. So, we go on to hope, with his ideals.
In parallel, there is the election which is about to happen in Malaysia tomorrow (Mar 8th) and the talk is that many parliamentary seats (or even states) will go to the Opposition party. This is judged by the huge amount of crowds turning up at Opposition-held ceramah or speeches, while the Govt held events only attract a proportionally much smaller crowd. And the opposition leaders are riding on the events happening in the US to galvanize the Malaysian electorate that the wind of change is blowing here too. Exactly what practical changes that they can bring for the benefit of the people, we do not yet know. One thing is for certain, the rhetorics have been coming, fast and furious, and the people have been entertained by them. So, the post-election analysis, we will get to know whether the people are buying it, or this is simply another flash in the pan.
In my opinion (which may not be so accurate given that i have not been on the ground, been living in Malaysia permanently for the past 9 years), i feel that seats will go to opposition not because of their strengths but because of the infighting in the government party and also general unhappiness over the leadership provided by the current Prime Minister. We are ashamed and jaded by all the constant out-in-the-open bickering and fall out among ministers and politicians who hold prominent positions in the government. But can the opposition offer a real alternative? I am quietly hopeful they will gain more force in parliament, and not to become an insignificant part of the Malaysian political system, like in neighboring Singapore.
So as we hold our breath, awaiting the outcome of the elections, we can only pray that something good will turn out in the end... same for the US presidential elections.
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