Asia Times: Malaysian campaign goes from dirty to pornographic



	November 27, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Malaysian campaign goes from dirty to pornographic
By Anil Netto

KUALA LUMPUR - Only a week ago, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad predicted that the campaign for Monday's general election would be dirtiest ever, courtesy of the political opposition.

But, according to public interest groups here, it is the campaign strategy of his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that is raising concern.

The ruling coalition, led by Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (Umno), kicked off its campaign on November 21 with full-page advertisements in major newspapers that raised the specter of violence and unrest should the opposition do well in this bitterly fought poll. Depicting violence, the advertisements included photographs of small groups, ostensibly ''reformasi'' supporters aligned with jailed deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, engaging in acts of hooliganism.

Many of the ads showed protesters smashing car windows, with slogans saying ''No to Violence'' or ''Don't Let Anarchy Rule. Vote for Peace and Stability. Vote Barisan Nasional''. What is unclear is whether these were pictures of genuine demonstrators or of agents provocateur.

But for Malaysians apathetic about political developments, such implied threats of violence have stoked deep-seated fears. These fears are heightened by the fear of the unknown: for the first time, a united opposition front, Barisan Alternatif, is challenging the ruling coalition's 44-year grip on power.

Certainly, the specter of violence will cost the opposition some votes. It has already raised the political temperature in the run-up to the polls.

''It is getting obvious to all rational-thinking Malaysians that the Barisan Nasional is prepared to play with fire and to take our beloved country to the brink of violence and rioting in order to secure a two-thirds (parliamentary) majority,'' said a statement endorsed by a dozen public interest groups, condemning what they called the ''politics of fear''.

On at least three occasions in the past week, Mahathir warned of the possibility of riots erupting in the country. The premier, in power for 18 years, said riots could break out on the eve of elections when the opposition front, the Barisan Alternatif, realises that it will not win the elections. On another occasion, he said: ''If they want the opposition, they can vote for it. Then, they should give them the mandate, the two-thirds majority. But we will not guarantee that it will bring peace.''

''These examples of the politics of fear have been achieved with the connivance of the Barisan Nasional-owned and controlled mass media,'' said the public interest groups in a statement, adding that a free and fair election cannot be conducted in a climate of fear. ''It is clear that Dr Mahathir and the Barisan Nasional are resorting to blackmail in order to secure a two-thirds majority,'' they added.

The ruling coalition's tactics of appealing to the citizens' fear of instability has worsened the odds for the Barisan Alternatif, which has to cope with quite a list of hurdles as it is. These include the lopsided coverage by the controlled mainstream media, gerrymandering of electoral boundaries, and a refusal to allow some 680,000 new voters to vote because the Election Commission has not yet processed their registration.

The Election Commission says this process takes some eight months to complete, though, by contrast, New Zealand allows new voters to register right up to the eve of polling.

In addition, election monitoring groups say thousands of discrepancies and phantom voters have been found in the electoral rolls. The shroud of secrecy over postal balloting by security personnel and their spouses has also cast doubt on the integrity of the system.

The dirty tricks don't end there. MalaysiaKini, a new Internet news website, has reported that copies of a videotape highlighting Anwar's alleged homosexual activities - he is undergoing trial for the criminal offense of sodomy - have been found scattered in parts of the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Raja Petra, media spokesperson for Anwar's new National Justice Party (keADILan), was quoted as saying that several copies of the tape, entitled 'Siapa Anwar' (Who is Anwar?), were found by keADILan members at bus stops and telephone booths. Chandra Muzaffar, keADILan's deputy president, described the tape as ''clearly pornographic in content''.

''We had anticipated that BN would distribute the tape widely during the election campaign, and we believe that they will resort to more dirty tricks in the next few days leading up to the polls,'' said Raja Petra.

Meantime, mainstream television, radio and newspapers regularly mock opposition leaders and extol the achievements of the ruling coalition, while denying opposition parties meaningful access.

In Wednesday's edition of the English-language daily The Sun, for instance, more than half a dozen full-page advertisements campaigned for the ruling coalition. There were also news pages devoted to mostly favorable coverage of the ruling coalition's campaign.

''It's not a surprise,'' says media analyst Mustafa Anuar. ''But we didn't expect the media to be so dirty as reflected in recent campaign advertisements. It is a very sad period for Malaysian journalism.''

To counter the might of the ruling coalition machinery, resource-strapped opposition parties are relying on the Internet, the opposition newspaper Harakah, and indoor forums, though they have been denied access to many suitable venues such as community halls and stadiums.

Meanwhile, the ruling coalition and its supporters are also trying in more subtle ways to discourage Malaysians from voting for opposition candidates . One local university recently received a circular warning employees at the university, a hotbed for student activism, not to get involved in ''political activities''.

Says a lecturer there: ''Among the political activities that we're supposed to shy away from are making public statements verbally or in written form, with the intention of swaying an argument in favor of a particular political party, and publishing books, articles or leaflets that carry opinions pertaining to a particular party, or distributing books, articles or leaflets of this nature.''

(Inter Press Service)

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