The Hazy New Dawn

Abstract

Dubbed a political tsunami, Malaysia’s 12th General Election in 2008 marked a critical turn in the politics of the nation. For the first time since Independence in 1957, the three main opposition parties took power in five of the 13 states in the country, denying the ruling coalition a two-thirds majority in the federal parliament. Several women and men, many of whom were associated with the women’s movement and civil society, became involved almost overnight in institutionalized politics when they stood under the opposition ticket. This article takes stock of the experiences of these new women civil society activists-turnedpoliticians in addressing women’s substantive representation in the “opposition-controlled” states of Selangor and Penang. It argues that these contestations go beyond gendered power relations. In addition to institutional barriers made worse by the tense relations within an over-centralized federal system, the article argues that women’s other identities, such as ethnicity, location, and age, intersect with their gender identity. These competing identities greatly affect how the “new” politics of change is being negotiated. The future of Malaysian politics will most likely see a messy process unfolding, as the stakes are high for opposition women contestants, who want to retain their gender priorities in their struggle for political power.

Key Words:

• Democracy
• politics
• gender
• institutions
• citizenship
• ethnicity
• Malaysia