PENANG - Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak is bidding to overhaul his administration's public image just weeks ahead of a general election in Malaysia. The polls, scheduled for May 5, are expected to be the most tightly contested in the country's post-colonial history.
Early signs indicate Najib's campaign will emphasize his government's national unity by promoting a "1Malaysia" logo and policies while playing down association with his multi-party ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
"1Malaysia" flags and banners have been posted separate from BN's campaign materials in many areas of the country. The logo ''1'', draped in the colors and design of the national flag, has
assumed greater prominence than the BN's traditional measuring scales (dacing) symbol.
The move comes in sight of a Merdeka Center opinion poll conducted in February that showed Najib's personal approval rating stood at 61% while his BN coalition measured 48%. Survey respondents indicated that corruption, widely associated with BN politicians, and the high cost of living were their priority issues.
The opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition has campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, promising a new era of good governance if elected, and an end to BN's race-based preferences that favor ethnic Malays over minority Chinese and Indians. It has also vowed to provide free education, reduce petrol and car prices and give poorer oil-producing states a larger share of royalties and revenues.
On the other side, the "1Malaysia" slogan is closely associated with Najib's various populist hand-outs, including cash payments to low-income households, low-cost neighborhood health clinics, and "1Malaysia" franchised mini-markets where staples such as rice, milk and flour are sold at low prices.
In the northern state of Penang, now governed by the opposition PR, a pro-BN 1Malaysia group has recently organized free "charity dinners" in an apparent bid to gain an electoral edge. The events, which have included free entertainment, lottery tickets, food and beer, have drawn thousands of potential voters.
Opposition groups aligned with PR have criticized the events as crude attempts at vote-buying in the run-up to the polls. Others say the use of the "1Malaysia" banner conveniently side-steps election rules that limit candidates' spending in their constituencies, though these limits have not been strictly enforced in the past.
While urban voters are generally able to see through the political agenda behind such handouts, it is harder to gauge what impact they will have on semi-urban and rural voters. Voters have recently received cards in the mail reminding them of all the "1Malaysia" handouts Najib's BN-led government has provided.
Strategic shift
So why has the BN, which has ruled the country consecutively for nearly five decades, now turned to the "1Malaysia" theme to appeal to voters? After its setback at the 2008 general elections, where the PR opposition won five out of 13 federal states, BN leaders acknowledged the need to change the coalition's electoral strategy.
The BN's concept of a broad coalition of mainly race-based parties has seemingly outlived its usefulness as a tool to tap ethnic sentiment and appears increasingly out-of-touch with the country's changing political and social dynamics. Independent voters at the 2008 polls cut across ethnic and religious boundaries to press for broader public concerns such as electoral reform, environmental protection and the repeal of oppressive laws.
BN's minority parties, including the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress, have seen some of their traditional support fall away over perceptions of rampant corruption and ethnic discrimination. In some constituencies, BN will rely more on candidates from UMNO and less on MCA and MIC politicians.
Voters who once looked to race-based parties to push particular agendas now look instead to civil society groups such as the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), the Green movement (Himpunan Hijau), the Abolish Internal Security Act movement and the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf), among others.
Some political analysts believe that BN's dominant United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party came to the realization that the BN coalition's past dynamism has been overtaken by these new political forces, which in recent years have mobilized in large numbers and through street actions eroded the BN's credibility on various issues.
In response, analysts believe Najib launched his patriotic "1Malaysia" campaign, which unlike the BN attempts broadly to appeal to notions of national unity rather than race-based politics. BN's past divisive racial rhetoric has apparently been jettisoned - or at least 'outsourced' to loosely aligned ethno-nationalist right wing groups such as Perkasa, which asserts ethnic Malay supremacy.
"1Malaysia" is conveniently ambiguous and means different things to different people, according to Clive Kessler, emeritus professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of New South Wales and a long-time observer of Malaysian society.
"On the one hand there are many who yearn for this nation to be, to become in gradual and progressive stages, a truly inclusive, modern national community, a multiethnic and culturally inclusive nation of a generally liberal-democratic kind," he wrote in a recent online commentary.
On the other hand, "it holds that there is one Malaysia, only one Malaysia, not many. There is only one Malaysia, and it is ours. Since it is ours, we set the terms here. If you wish to be part of it you may. There is a place for you here, and we will tell you what it is. You may be included, but we are the includers and we include at our discretion, on our historic national grounds and criteria."
That may explain why UMNO, Perkasa and other race-based BN support groups are comfortable using the "1Malaysia" logo even though they have historically viewed politics through an ethnic prism.
By projecting Najib as the face of "1Malaysia", the BN, UMNO and regional BN parties in swing states such as Sabah and Sarawak hope to cut into the opposition's edge in issues-oriented politicking that appeals to many struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.
The question looming over the elections now is whether the BN's belated transformation to "1Malaysia" will draw enough voters away from the resurgent PR-led opposition to remain in power. Regardless of the outcome, Malaysia's electoral politics have taken a significant and potentially positive turn away from the race-based campaigns of the past.
Anil Netto is a Penang-based writer.
(Copyright 2013 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
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