Stress testing leadership in Malaysia: the 1MDB scandal and Najib Tun Razak

ABSTRACT

Malaysia's strategic development fund, 1 Malaysia Development Corporation, has suffered enormous losses. Funds have been traced to the accounts of the prime minister, Najib Razak. Amid the scandal that has followed, Najib's leadership has been challenged. Analysis begins by identifying the institutions that have historically stabilized Malaysia's politics, including a single-dominant party, a fused party-state, an electoral authoritarian regime, a controlled legislature, and a powerful security apparatus. Next, it examines how these resilient institutions fell into the hands of Najib's rivals, converting them into ‘threatening vectors’. Finally, it shows how Najib, in exercising ruthless new leadership, regained control over institutions and turned back challenges.

KEYWORDS:

• Single-party dominance
• electoral authoritarianism
• 1MDB
• Najib Razak

Acknowledgments

Research for this project was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. 9041396). An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 24th Congress of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), July 23–28, 2016, Poznan, Poland.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Interview, DAP MP for a federal Petaling Jaya constituency, Petaling Jaya, March 30 2016.

2. During interviews conducted in March to April 2016, Petaling Jaya, a prominent academic and an NGO director recounted that ‘many in the bank are angry [over 1MDB]’, and that within the bureaucracy, many mid- and lower-ranking civil servants ‘want to do the right thing’. An NGO director also reported that MACC officials met with her and staff members to share findings from their investigations over SRC, a 1MDB subsidiary.

3. Interviewees repeatedly flagged the mounting viciousness on Malaysia's political scene. A former Selangor state assemblyman, in reflecting on the killing in September 2015 of a deputy public prosecutor, contended that ‘there are no rules any more’. Discussion, March 24 2016. An NGO director observed that the government's willingness even to punish the family members of opposition and civil society leaders was ‘not new, but it's getting worse’. Interview, Petaling Jaya, March 31 2016.

4. A Kuala Lumpur correspondent for the Straits Times (Singapore), stated, ‘I've never seen an IGP so involved in politics… He intervenes [repeatedly] to protect Najib and UMNO’. Interview, Kuala Lumpur, March 28 2016.

5. Interview, DAP MP for a Selangor federal constituency, Kuala Lumpur, March 29 2016.

6. DAP MP for a Selangor federal constituency, Kuala Lumpur, March 29 2016: ‘[Since the 2013 election,] the ‘Malay ground is moving in ways that are not favorable to us’.

7. After accepting this appointment, Nur Jazlan was ousted from the board of IDEAS, a prominent NGO. Interview, Petaling Jaya, March 31 2016.

8. Interview, IDEAS official, March 31 2016.

Additional information

Funding

Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Notes on contributors

William Case

William Case is Professor in the Department of Asian and International Studies and former Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) at City University of Hong Kong. His research interests include comparative politics and the politics of Southeast Asia. His most recent book (ed) is Routledge Handbook of Democratization in Southeast Asia.