Political marketing in Malaysia: examining the case of political campaigning in the 2014 Kajang by-election

Abstract

Political marketing is now being used more often in election campaigning in Malaysia. Therefore, this article explores the practices of political marketing in Malaysia by examining political campaigning in the 2014 Kajang by-election. The article examines (1) the history of political marketing in Malaysia, (2) the background of the Kajang by-election, (3) the political marketing techniques employed by the political parties and candidates contesting the Kajang by-election, and (4) the effectiveness of political marketing in attracting electorates to vote for candidates in the Kajang by-election. This research employed discourse analysis whereby data were gathered from library research and observation conducted in Kajang during the by-election from nomination day on 11 March 2014 until polling day on 23 March 2014. In the Kajang by-election, several techniques of political campaigning were utilized to attract voters to vote for the candidates. Both political parties, the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the People's Justice Party (PKR), employed political marketing strategies called the “4Ps” (product, promotion, party, and price). The candidate Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the president of the PKR, was challenged by Chew Mei Fun, a Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) vice president, representing the BN. Wan Azizah was able to win with a victory margin of 19%. This by-election proved that political parties utilized political marketing excessively to attract votes for their parties.

Keywords:

• Kajang by-election
• Malaysia
• political marketing
• Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
• Anwar Ibrahim
• Barisan Nasional
• Pakatan Rakyat

Acknowledgments

This article would not have been possible without the contributions of several individuals and institutions. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore for supporting my research project and appointing me as Visiting Research Fellow. I would also like to express my gratitude to Mr. Tan Chin Tiong, Dr. Ooi Kee Beng, Dr. Lee Hock Guan and Dr. James Gomez for assisting me in my research and writing. Finally, I would like to thank the PPSJ editorial team and two anonymous reviewers for their comments. All shortcomings are mine.

Notes

1. Exactly one day after the Court of Appeal decision in Malaysia, the nations were struck by a second shock on 8 March 2014 when the Malaysia Airlines MH370 aircraft heading toward Beijing from Kuala Lumpur went missing. Suddenly, the focus of all Malaysians was no longer on Anwar’s sodomy case or the Kajang by-election, but on the search and rescue efforts to find the missing aircraft, joined in by 26 nations. Thus, Anwar’s case and the sadness surrounding the tragedy of MH370 overshadowed the excitement of the Kajang by-election.

2. For instance, the Malay press, the Utusan Malaysia, is published by Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad, a company that also owns the Utusan Melayu and Kosmo newspapers and has a special relationship with the ruling UMNO, the main component party of the BN. The MCA, another BN component party, with its investment company, Huaren Holdings, took over daily newspapers The Star, Nanyang Siang Pau, and China Press. In October 2006, a business deal between the MCA and media tycoon Tiong Hiew King solidified the monopolization of the Chinese press, with the top four Chinese dailies: Sin Chew Daily, Nanyang Siang Pau, Guangming Daily and the Chinese Press. In 2007, Media Prima Berhad, with close links to UMNO, acquired all the private television stations including TV3, NTV7, 8TV, and TV9.It also has a 43% equity interest in The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (NSTP), one of Malaysia’s largest publishing groups which publishes leading newspaper titles such as the New Straits Times, Berita Harian, and Harian Metro (Azizuddin Mohd Sani 2014).

3. BN’s member parties, besides UMNO, MCA, MIC, and GERAKAN, are the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), the United Traditional Bumiputera Party (PBB), the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), the United Sabah Party (PBS), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the United Sabah People’s Party (PBRS), the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organization (UPKO), the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), and the Sarawak People’s Party (PRS).