SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Malaysia Ushers In Democracy
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Mar 12 (IPS) - Following last weekend's general elections,
Malaysia finds itself firmly among South-east Asia's promising
democracies that afford space for strong opposition voices to rein in
their governments.
The impressive showing of the opposition parties at Saturday's poll
saw the ruling National Front (NF) coalition (or Barisan Nasional),
lose its dominant grip on power after 40 years. Opposition lawmakers
won 82 out of the 222 seats in the parliament, a dramatic increase
from the 19 seats they had held in the outgoing legislature. The
opposition also gained control of five of Malaysia's 13 states.
Till this month's poll, the NF had continued to enjoy a two-thirds
majority in parliament, consequently giving rise to strong autocratic
leaders like the former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled the
country for 22 years. But the current leader, Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi, faces a new political reality, after the governing
coalition he led won 140 seats, a little over 60 percent of the
constituencies.
''We are very surprised with the results, but it is clear that the
issues we campaigned on like corruption, the economy and high crime
rate struck a chord with the electorate,'' said Teresa Kok, who was
returned to parliament for the third time for the opposition
Democratic Action Party. ''Finally, the people of Malaysia felt bold
enough to demand for change. This has never happened before.''
The electoral results are a landmark for democratic politics in the
country, she added during a telephone interview from Kuala Lumpur.
''It opens the space for a two-party system.''
The significance of the moment was not lost on commentators in the
local mainstream media, where government pressure has historically
kept a tight lid on dissent. ''In the years to come this election may
well be remembered as Malaysia's rite of passage to democracy,'' wrote
Shad Saleem Faruqi in the Internet edition of the 'Star' newspaper.
''A maturing electorate saw through all the political rhetoric, the
issues of corruption, arrogance of power and price rises.''
Even some of the country's regular foreign critics offered a bouquet.
''Malaysia's elections this past weekend should be heralded as an
im****tant gain for democracy in South-east Asia,'' remarked Freedom
House, the Wa****ngton D.C.-based political and civil liberties
watchdog, in a statement released Tuesday. ''Despite attempts by the
ruling coalition to suppress opposition voices by arresting activists
and restricting public demonstrations, opposition parties quadrupled
the number of seats they hold, gaining the capacity to block
government efforts to amend the constitution, as it has done
frequently in the past.''
In fact, the political realignment in Malaysia deals a blow to an old
political order that had defined a regional grouping since its
inception, the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). The
five founding countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singa****e
and Thailand -- had governments that made a strong case for dominant
one-party states, where any hint of opposition was crushed.
Consequently, ASEAN was the home to strongmen like Indonesian leader
Suharto, Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos and authoritarian
prime ministers like Lee Kuan Yew of Singa****e and Mahathir of
Malaysia. The policy of the one-party state was even defended by Lee
and Mahathir as a feature of ''Asian values,'' where political and
civil liberties had to give way to development and economic progress.
Today, however, Singa****e is the only founding member of ASEAN still
clinging to the old political order of the strong one-party state. For
company in the regional grouping, which has marked 41 years and has
expanded to 10, the affluent city-state has communist-ruled countries
Vietnam and Laos, military-ruled Burma and the absolute monarchy in
Brunei. Cambodia, the other ASEAN member, has more political freedom.
Yet the prospect of the political wave that swept through Malaysia
being repeated in other ASEAN countries appears remote. Most so in
Singa****e, the richest and most developed of ASEANs remaining one-
party states. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has held on to
power since 1959. It holds 82 of the 84 seats in the current
parliament, which was elected in 2006. The PAP enjoyed a similar
dominance in the last parliament, following the 2001 poll.
''The ruling party sees an opposition party as a threat and it pursues
a lot of measures to keep the opposition outside the political
spectrum,'' Chee Soon Juan, leader of the Singa****e Democratic Party,
said in a telephone interview from the city-state. ''It has been done
by filing lawsuits against opposition figures, using the internal
security act and even banning podcasts and using SMS during election
campaigns.''
Yet he concedes that Malaysia's transformation is ''very encouraging''
for opposition parties in the region that face autocratic regimes.
''There are lessons to be learnt. The opposition parties and activists
in Malaysia have been pu****ng the limits of the government, and they
are now enjoying the fruits of their labour.''
And for ASEAN to grow up politically, the fear among the majority of
the group's countries to embrace a stronger and vocal opposition has
to end, says Endy Bayuni, chief editor of 'The Jakarta Post'.
''Countries need healthy debates in parliament, which will now happen
in Malaysia. It means that the government will have to explain and
fight for its policies.''
The Malaysian polls confirm that people have grown tired of the
arguments for the strong one-party state, he explained during a
telephone interview from Jakarta. ''It may have served governments
during the early stages of nation-building but not now. That era is
over.''
(END/2008)
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