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Abstract
Each ethnic community has an ethnic-based political party both within the government coalition (Barisan Nasional: BN) and within the opposition coalition (Pakatan Rakyat and Pakatan Harapan). Therefore, Malaysia’s political structure can be described as double-layered ethnic politics. In this political structure, the BN government has been forced to adopt a fluctuating policy framework for nation building. As a result, double-layered ethnic politics impedes the development of national integration. Paradoxically, this phenomenon contributes to the maintenance of social stability as this political structure effectively prevents the establishment of a robust ethnic unity that may lead to ethnic conflicts.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the journal’s anonymous peer reviewers for their comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. In this paper, social stability means a social situation in which ethnic tensions and ethnic conflicts (the opposite of national integration) are consistently contained.
2. Bumiputera means ‘sons of the soil’.
3. The BN won 140 of 222 seats in parliament and 51.4% of the total vote, whereas the Barisan Rakyat, which formed the PR after the 2008 election, won 82 seats and 46.8% of the votes.
4. The BN won 133 of 222 seats in parliament and 47.4% of the total vote, whereas the PR won 89 seats and 50.9% of the votes.
5. It has been said that the UMNO was racially divisive and pro-Malay in the 2013 election (Anonymous, Citation2013, p. 14).
6. Although the PAS nominated a Chinese candidate in the 2013 election, the party has been recognised as a Malay party.
7. The Parti Keadilan Nasional (Keadilan) was formed in 1999. In 2003, the PKR was formed through a merger of the Keadilan and the Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM).
8. For example, the Chairman of the DAP was an Indian, Karpal Singh (2004–2014). The DAP nominated a Muslim candidate in the 2013 election, whereas the PAS nominated a Chinese candidate in the 2013 election.
9. For example, in PAS and PKR individual ceramahs, the Malays complained about economic disparity between Malays and Chinese, whereas in DAP individual ceramahs, the Chinese denounced Malay preferential policies (Suzuki, Citation2013).
10. Najib stated that the sole aim of the PR was to topple the BN (Sharanjit & Sajahan, Citation2008).
11. This point is discussed in greater depth in Segawa (Citation2013, Citation2015).
12. I do not mean that Malaysia is a racism-driven country.
13. Abdullah (Citation2001, p. 9), the fifth prime minister, noted that ‘if the BN system was an impediment to unity, it would not have lasted this long. If it promoted disunity, the component parties would have long ago left the coalition’.
14. Article 153 of the Constitution recognises Malay special rights in terms of employment in the civil services, the issuance of transport and business licences and the allocation of scholarships. In 1971, the New Economic Policy was designed, which solidified the government’s Malay preferential commitments in policy terms.
15. Policy approaches located on or very close to the assimilation axis or the multiculturalism axis (see ) are described as assimilation or multiculturalism policies in their purest forms.
16. He also argued that Malaysians of all races and religions must think and act beyond the boundaries of ethnicity and race (Malaysia, Citation2009).
17. In the case of single-layered ethnic politics in which opposition political parties are not based on ethnicity, it is not necessary for the government to focus entirely on ethnic interests in elections.
18. This is demonstrated by the finding that more than 85% of Chinese parents have sent their children to Chinese medium primary schools. Furthermore, 70% of Chinese believe that national identity should not be based on Malay culture but rather on a principle of cultural diversity (Heng, Citation2004, p. 374).
19. It has been said that policy decisions within the BN have generally been made by UMNO leadership (Loh, Citation2013, p. 4; Ramakrishnan, Citation2013, p. 26).
20. However, many Chinese have perceived the MCA as a party that has ‘sold off Chinese rights and has been willing to serve as the UMNO lackeys’ (Heng, Citation1996, p. 38).
21. Group B Chinese is a floating group.
22. Malay gained independence in 1957.
23. For example, the existence of primary schools using not only Malay but also Chinese and Tamil as a medium of instruction was allowed (Malaysia, Citation1960).
24. On 13 May 1969, the Chinese, celebrating a victory in the election, clashed with the UMNO, which feared the extension of Chinese power. In the riots, approximately 200 people died.
25. However, as Singh and Mukherjee (Citation1990, p. 16) argued, a ‘minefield situation’ has existed despite the government’s success in avoiding open ethnic conflict and maintaining social stability. Shamsul (Citation2005) has referred this situation as ‘stable tension’.
26. The BN lost in most non-Malay majority constituencies in which more than 60% of voters were non-Malays. In constituencies in which the Chinese constituted more than 40% of voters, the BN lost 96% of seats (Yeoh, Citation2013).
27. After the 2013 election, the BN has also continued to implement policy compromise on Chinese social and cultural rights. Muhyiddin, the deputy prime minister, approved an allocation of nearly RM2 million to Chinese schools and an additional allocation of RM0.2 million requested by Chinese community leaders to establish an education fund (Shahrum & Adie, Citation2013).
28. As Najib has argued for ‘national reconciliation’ based on fair and moderate approaches (Chooi, Citation2013) as well as democratic principles (Najib, Citation2014a), it seems that Najib has undertaken the BN’s political and structural reforms towards the promotion of good governance.