Two-party system takes shape in
Malaysia By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR - Following its big gains in
the March 8 polls, Malaysia's once disparate
opposition, led by the charismatic former deputy
prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, has forged a formal
coalition capable of taking on the ruling 14-party
National Front (NF) coalition.
The move is
hailed by pro-democracy activists as the first
step in the creation of a viable two-party
political system, probably the first stable,
working system ever in Southeast Asia.
Malaysia's politics since independence in
1957 have been dominated by the monolithic
National Front, a grouping of mostly race-based
political parties dominated and led by the United
Malays National Organization (UMNO).
In
the March polls, voters dealt the NF a severe
blow. The
coalition lost five state
governments and its vaunted two-thirds majority in
parliament after voters, angry with the arrogance
of the NF leaders and corruption, voted for the
opposition, disregarding race and religion.
Political analysts are now unsure whether
the NF can ever recover from such a beating, with
some predicting it will gradually disappear from
the political scene because in the new Malaysia
race and religion are no longer the key issues.
On Sunday, at a party gathering to explain
the electoral debacle, Prime Minister Abdullah
Badawi, who is also UMNO president, and his
predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad. traded allegations
in an acrimonious and damaging display of
disunity.
Using language that echoed
opposition charges, Mahathir accused Badawi of
corruption and running a weak government that
resulted in the electoral defeat. "We have never
had such a bad election result in our history and
we are supposed to support these people who led to
the defeat so they can completely destroy the
party?"
Badawi hit back by saying that
UMNO's troubles, including nepotism and
corruption, originated during Mahathir's time.
In such a scenario, the bets are with the
new opposition coalition, called Pakatan Rakyat or
People's Front (PF), consisting of three
once-disparate opposition political parties, but
persuaded by Ibrahim to show a united face with a
common agenda.
Top leaders of the three
political parties - the multiracial People's
Justice Party led by Ibrahim, the Chinese-based
Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Pan
Malaysian Islamic Party or PAS - announced their
formal coming together last week.
"It is a
first step and there are many challenges ahead but
please bear with us," Ibrahim told Inter Press
Service in an interview. "The Pakatan Rakyat will
consolidate the cooperation between the three
parties. We will have a common agenda based on
human rights, justice and corruption-free
government."
"The Pakatan Rakyat pledges
to uphold the rights and interests of all
Malaysians, regardless of religion or race, as
enshrined in the constitution," he said, adding
that common themes will be implemented immediately
in the five states that the opposition now rules.
Ibrahim said the coalition will hold a
major convention later this month to work out the
details, agenda and political ideology of the new
grouping.
It will be led by the leaders of
all the three political parties who are of equal
status and under a collective leadership. A joint
secretariat consisting of three leaders from each
of the three parties will manage the new
coalition.
It is understood that the PF
will accept as member any political party that
subscribes to its common theme and agenda,
including from the ruling National Front - some of
whose members are keen to cross to the opposition
to regain lost ground.
The coalition
partners, although dissimilar in aims and
ambitions - one being secular and the other
Islamic - have agreed to put aside their
differences and struggle for common principles
like human rights, justice, corruption-free
government and democracy.
Political
experts say the new PF presents the general public
a credible alternative to the present ruling
coalition. They say the forging of a loose
coalition into a formidable PF entity is also a
personal triumph for Ibrahim, whose negotiation
skills and consensus-building leadership brought
the rival groups together.
Malaysia's
opposition has been divided for many years because
the Islamic PAS and the secular DAP could never
agree over PAS' stated aim of setting up an
Islamic theocracy. However, Ibrahim forged an
alliance based on basic principles that both
Islamists and secularists could agree on such as
freedom, justice and democracy.
Ibrahim
argues that the PAS stand on an Islamic state
would not sink the new alliance. "It is not an
issue as far as we are concerned. Nobody mentioned
it, talked about or campaigned on it," he said.
Chinese leader Lim Kit Siang said: "It's
the logical next step after the March 8 political
tsunami in order to bring about the changes that
the people want. This People's Front is a response
to the clear and unmistakable message from the
people - that they want change, justice, freedom
and fairness."
In the polls, the ruling
coalition won 140 seats in the new 222-seat
parliament against 199 in the outgoing 219-seat
parliament. The opposition coalition won 82 seats
compared to just 20 in the previous parliament. It
also won five state governments.
The new
opposition coalition has pledged to abolished all
unjust and discriminatory laws, especially the
Internal Security Act which allows for detention
without trial for any number of years.
It
would also abolish the Universities and University
Colleges Act which restricts academic freedom, and
the Official Secrets Act which restricts
government information and punishes journalists
who expose official corruption.
Other
measures are to overhaul the one-sided Election
Commission, make the Anti-Corruption Agency truly
independent (currently it come under the Prime
Minister's department) and revamp the judiciary by
making it free from influence.
Public
reaction to the formation of the People's Front
has been tremendous. But many worry whether the
Front can overcome the racial and religious
challenges that lie ahead.
"They have come
together in the euphoria of victory but the scars
are all there, only they have agreed to bury
them," said one letter by Vincent Lim in The Star
daily newspaper. "The fundamental differences
between Islamists and secularists will likely
erupt once the euphoria dies down and reality sets
in."
Still, some readers are euphoric.
"If a two-party system emerges it would
spell the end of communal politics once and for
all," said reader James Low in the forum on
Malaysiakini.com, an independent online news
magazine. "With racism in check, we can proudly
claim that diversity is our strength."
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