![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
Abstract
Malaysia's electoral authoritarian system is increasingly coming under pressure. Indicators of this are the metamorphosis of opposition forces since 1998 and, in particular, the results of the 2008 parliamentary elections. From 1957 until 1998 political party opposition was fragmented. An initial transformation of political party opposition began at the height of the Asian financial crisis, after a major conflict within the ruling United Malays National Organization in 1998. However, the regime was able to weaken the opposition, resulting in its poor performance in the 2004 elections. Afterwards, in a second transformation that has continued until the present time, an oppositional People's Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat) has emerged that now has a serious chance of taking over the federal government. This article argues that the increase in the strength and cohesion of political party opposition since 1998 has been caused mainly by five combined factors: the emergence of pro-democratic segments within a multi-ethnic and multi-religious middle class; the intensified interaction of political parties and civil society forces; the impact of new media; the eroded legitimacy of the United Malays National Organization and other parties of the ruling coalition; and the internal reforms within the Islamist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia). Consequently it has become conceivable that the country will incrementally democratize in a protracted transition. Although the 1999 and 2008 elections were not foundational, they have been transitional. They may not have inaugurated a new democratic regime, but they have marked important phases in the struggle for democracy in Malaysia.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Marco Bünte and the two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments.
Notes
See Case, Politics in Southeast Asia; Jesudason, ‘The Syncretic State’; and Crouch, Government & Society in Malaysia, respectively.
Schedler, ‘Elections Without Democracy’, 36f. See also Levitsky and Way, ‘Elections Without Democracy’.
Schedler, ‘The Logic of Electoral Authoritarianism’, 3.
Schedler, ‘Elections Without Democracy’, 47.
Case, ‘How do Rulers Control the Electoral Arena?’.
Mohd Azizuddin, ‘Media Freedom in Malaysia’.
Przeworski, ‘Some Problems’, 48.
Howard and Roessler, ‘Liberalizing Electoral Outcomes’, 380.
O'Donnell and Schmitter, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule.
Eisenstadt, ‘Eddies in the Third Wave’, 6.
The research for this article was funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).
Brown, ‘The Enemy of My Enemy?’, 98.
On the UMNO leadership crisis, see Hwang, Personalized Politics, 143ff.
Brown, ‘The Enemy of My Enemy?’, 101; Weiss, Protest and Possibilities, 107ff.
Weiss, Protest and Possibilities, 188.
Embong, ‘The Culture and Practice of Pluralism’.
Lee, ‘Development Policies’, 41.
Embong, ‘Culture and Practice of Pluralism’, 61.
Gomez, ‘Ethnicity, Equity and Conflict’, 56.
Ibid. See also Saravanamuttu, ‘Is there a Politics?’.
According to Loh, there are still large segments that are more oriented towards a political culture of ‘developmentalism’, which comprises consumerist habits and a penchant for political stability that may be guaranteed by authoritarian means. See Loh, ‘Developmentalism’, 21.
On Reformasi, see Hilley, Malaysia; Khoo, Beyond Mahathir.
Funston, ‘Malaysia's Tenth Elections’, 25ff; Jomo, Malaysian Eclipse.
Khoo, Beyond Mahathir, 81.
Marzuki, ‘Legal Coercion’, 35ff.
Jomo, ‘Acknowledgements’, xviii.
Abbott, ‘The Internet, Reformasi and Democratisation’.
According to PAS, its membership rose from 500,000 to 700,000 and the circulation of the party bulletin Harakah increased from 65,000 to 300,000.
On BA parties, see Khoo, Beyond Mahathir, 134–59.
On the elections, see Funston, ‘Malaysia's Tenth Elections’; Loh and Saravanamuttu (eds), New Politics in Malaysia; Khoo, Beyond Mahathir, 112ff.
Funston, ‘Malaysia's Tenth Elections’, 55.
Eisenstadt, ‘Eddies in the Third Wave’, 15.
Brownlee, Authoritarianism.
Ibid., 12.
Eisenstadt, ‘Eddies in the Third Wave’, 4.
Reformasi supporters were blocked by the police from proceeding to a ‘100,000 People's Gathering’ in Klang. As a result, Wan Azizah gave a speech in front of a crowd at Kesas Highway (Malaysiakini, January 3, 2001).
The Barisan Alternatif wrested the Lunas state seat from Barisan Nasional by a margin of 530 votes. Saifuddin Nasution won against MIC's S Anthonysamy (Malaysiakini, November 30, 2000).
Especially on developments from 1999 until 2002, see Welsh, ‘Real Change?’. Interview with Syed Husin Ali (PKR), Kuala Lumpur, November 15, 2004.
‘Hudud’ usually refers to the class of punishments (capital punishments, amputation of hands or feet, and flogging) that are fixed for certain crimes such as drinking alcohol, theft, robbery, illegal sexual intercourse, rebellion, and apostasy (including blasphemy).
Interviews with Tian Chua (PKR), Kuala Lumpur, August 12, 2004; and Syed Husin Ali (PKR), Kuala Lumpur, August 17, 2004.
This code, however, was never implemented due to the expected intervention by the federal government.
On the entire issue, which included an intense intra-party debate, see Liew, ‘PAS Politics’. Interviews with Nasharuddin Mat Isa (PAS), Kuala Lumpur, November 23, 2004; Solahuddin Ayoob (PAS), Kuala Lumpur, September 20, 2004; and Mohammad Hatta Ramli (PAS), Kuala Lumpur, September 24, 2004 – who even pondered establishing a new party. Nasharuddin openly questioned the usefulness of the Islamic State document. Solahuddin advocated an opening of the party, for instance, with ‘alternative entertainment’ events (that is, for example, rock concerts with gender segregation).
Lim and Ong, ‘The 2004 General Election’.
Lai and Melkonian-Hoover, ‘Democratic Progress and Regress’, 562.
Informal conversations at the PKR assembly. See also Joceline Tan, ‘Bumpy road ahead for PKR’, The Star, 24 January 2005.
On the following see Liew, ‘PAS Leadership’; Thirkell-White, ‘Political Islam and Malaysian Democracy’, 436ff. Also informal conversations at the party congress.
Interview with Nasharuddin Mat Isa (PAS), Kuala Lumpur, November 23, 2004.
Interview with Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar (PAS), Kuala Lumpur, August 7, 2008; and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PKR), Shah Alam, August 14, 2008.
The DAP and the PAS still very often need Anwar as mediator – interviews with Din Merican (PKR), Petaling Jaya, August 13, 2008; Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar (PAS), Kuala Lumpur, August 7, 2008; Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PKR), Shah Alam, August 14, 2008; and Tony Pua (DAP), Kuala Lumpur, August 14, 2008. Anwar is able to bridge the divide because of his Islamic and Reformasi credentials.
The benefits of this collaboration became evident in the Sarawak state elections in May 2006.
Malaysiakini, November 12, 2007; The Star, November 12, 2007.
Schedler, ‘The Nested Game’, 110.
George, ‘Media in Malaysia’, 906ff.
Wong, ‘Kingmaker Web 2.0’, 240f. See also George, ‘The Internet's Political Impact’.
Abbott, ‘Internet, Reformasi and Democratisation’, 98.
New Straits Times, March 14, 2008.
Interview with Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar (PAS), Kuala Lumpur, August 7, 2008. Moreover, Malaysiakini's Internet-streamed television programmes were copied on VCDs; see Tan and Zawawi, Blogging and Democratization in Malaysia, 86.
New Straits Times, March 14, 2008. According to Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the most important role of the Internet during the recent election has been to cure ‘the apathy of the middle class’ and motivate them to vote; quoted after Tan and Zawawi, Blogging and Democratization in Malaysia, 86.
The Economist, March 13, 2008. The Internet was largely unchecked in order to encourage foreign investment in the Multimedia Super Corridor launched on 1 August 1996; see Abbott, ‘Internet, Reformasi and Democratisation’, 82f.
Malaysiakini, September 19, 2007; September 27, 2007; and October 29, 2007.
On this, see Pepinsky, ‘Malaysia: Turnover Without Change’.
International Herald Tribune, January 31, 2008.
Ufen, ‘2008 Elections in Malaysia’. Tan and Lee (eds), Political Tsunami.
Ufen, ‘2008 Elections in Malaysia’. Ong, ‘Making Sense of the Political Tsunami’.
Ong, ‘Making Sense of the Political Tsunami’.
According to Brown (‘Federal and State Elections’, 743), the estimated swing to opposition parties in West Malaysia was 58.5% among Indians and 21.7% among Chinese voters; 4.6% of Malay voters switched their support to the opposition.
Merdeka Center, Peninsula Malaysia Voter Opinion Poll.
The approval rates for the prime minister, for example, fell between October 2007 and September 2008 among Malays from 84% to 51%, among Indians from 79% to 32%, and among Chinese from 47% to 30% (see Merdeka Center, Peninsula Malaysia Voter Opinion Poll).
Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib, was accused of abetting the 2006 murder of his former lover Altantuya, whose body was blown up with explosives. Raja Petra Kamaruddin has repeatedly linked Najib and his wife to the murder on his website Malaysia Today. Raja Petra was later detained (Malaysiakini, October 31, 2008).
Since 1957 the constitution has been amended nearly 700 times. Amendments are necessary, for example, for the re-delineation of constituencies.
The fifth PKR congress ‘in the fully air-conditioned Malawati stadium in Shah Alam’ in November 2008 ‘was the most well-organised to date and reflective of the resources which are now at the opposition party's disposal’ (Beh Lih Yi, ‘Victory Glee’). Interviews with Din Merican (PKR), Petaling Jaya, August 13, 2008; and Tony Pua (DAP), Kuala Lumpur, August 14, 2008.
Van de Walle, ‘Tipping Games’, 84. See also Oon, Tipping Points.
Malaysiakini, May 17, 2008.
Van de Walle, ‘Tipping Games’, 84.
Interviews with Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PKR), Shah Alam, August 14, 2008; and Tony Pua (DAP), Kuala Lumpur, August 14, 2008.
Howard and Roessler, ‘Liberalizing Electoral Outcomes’, 366.
Brownlee, Authoritarianism, 8. Thus, when the PAS and the DAP boycotted the Batu Talam state by-elections in January 2007 and pondered boycotting the next national elections, BN politicians reacted angrily. The BN needs elections to legitimate its authority at all costs.
Howard and Roessler, ‘Liberalizing Electoral Outcomes’, 380.
‘Anwar had secured no serious defection from either the political or business elite following his dismissal’, (Abbott, ‘Internet, Reformasi and Democratisation’, 98). Obviously, this still has not changed.
It was used against opposition politician Teresa Kok (DAP), blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (‘Malaysia Today’) and a Sin Chew Daily journalist.
This is because of his ‘chameleon-like political career’ (see Sim, ‘Can we trust Anwar?’). Anwar belonged to the opposition until the early 1980s. He then switched to the UMNO and became the designated successor of Mahathir.
See Huntington, The Third Wave, 174ff.
This ‘mechanism of entrapment suggests that citizens may be able to enforce responsiveness by exploiting regime vulnerabilities even if formal means of interest aggregation are subverted’ (see Lyall ‘Pocket Protests’, 387).