Pa rty Foliticsin Southeast Asia

Organization - Money - lnfluence

Edited by Wolfgang Sachsen rdder

Partyforumseasia

Copyrlght O 2014 Wolfgang Sachsenroder

All rights reserved.

ISBN:1493587145ISBN-13 : 97 81493587 1"48

a-

I"arly l'olitics in Southeast Asia

CHAPTER 4: MALAYSIA

The Political Parties in MalaysiaBy Ka rtini Aboo Ta lib @ Kha lid

lntroduction

Malaysian politics and socioeconomic structures have alwaysbeen viewed as plural, communal, or divided (Weiss, 2003;Case, 1995; Jesudason, 1995; Crouch, 1992 (bl; Milne & Mauzy,

1986). However, the political and economic momentum has

been steadily supporting interethnic relations between theMalay, Chinese and lndian populations. Right afterindependence in 1957, the political landscape in Malaysiaevolved and focused attention towards better alliances amongthe three major, parties, the United Malays NationalOrganization (UMNO), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)

and the Malaysian lndian Congress (MlC). The alliance wascalled Perikatan and later changed its name to Barisan Nasional(National Front) in 1973. The Barisan-led government has

achieved electoral victory and managed to retain its legitimacythrough many strategies such as participating in the complexMalay quests for securing the privileges of the Malay majority,insuring Chinese business activities and improving lndian'sdemand for socio-economic change (Case, 1995).

Case (1995) further contends that the evolution of Malaysia can

be divided into three political phases: the years leading up to1959, the mid-1970s, and the late 1980s. The first phase

depicted the effect of British colonialism that delineatedeconomic activities along ethnic lines. The Malays as originallnhabitants of the country wlth a slight majority of over 50%

were concentrated on holding administrative and bureaucraticpower, while the Chinese immigrants were city dwellers thatcontrolled credit and tight trading networks among families.The lndian minority had control over the rubber plantations.

\\ ollgang Sachsenroeder (ed)

Dissatisfaction of many Malays on economic barriers laterturned nto interethnic hostillty ln the May 13'h 1959 riots. TheMalay grievances on economlc inferiority and non-MalaVresentment aboLrt their inferior political and cultural statuso5had weakened the Barlsan alliance. Many lMa ays' support forUMNO had eroded, while many Chinese engaged in theDemocratic Action Party (DAP) and involved in assembliesorganized by GERAKAN (Peop e's Movement Party), provokingMalays to sharp ethnic violence {Case, 1995). The riot wascleared throLrgh enforcement and preventive actions weretaken to avoid such c ashes in the future.

The second phase emerglng in the mid-1970s describedattempts by the BErlsan al ance to reassure the masses thatthey were still the right party to promote peace, prosperity. andstability across ethnic lines. The New Economic PolicyaT policV

My compliments go to the Naumann Foundation, and UKM'AP-CMNB-20 2A09/2 dneclat Prof. Dr. Kama Ha il Hassan. My sincere thankvou to Dr. Wolfgang Sachsenroeder for Siving me the oppo(unity toloin ths project, Dr Karen Vautour, Dr. Nidzam Sulaiman, and Dr.Ier€nce Gomez for editing and proof reading this manuscript.

'6 A backl6sh against the foLrnding compromise oflndependentMalays a n 1963 Fu I citizenship for Chinese and lndians again5tpolitical supremacy of the Malays

" ttlE lrp was introduc€d after the race riot in 1959. Their object vewas twojold: first was to restructure the previous economic conditionthat was withln the ethnic llnes, and second was to alleviate poverty.The NEP mpementatlon lvas deslgned to prodLrce more lvlalayentrepreneurs and to simullaneously expand the Chinese businessesthrouCh the so-called All-8aba deals {case, 1995:96-97). The policypermitted cont nuous share swappins and sub-contracts for Chinesebusinessmen, allowing uninterrupted businesses including The Multi-purpose Corporation, Vincert Tan, Francis Yeoh (YTL Corporations).However not a I Chinere tycoons' accumulated wea th benefitted fromNEP. For insrance. Loh Boon Siew was the first sole distriburor ofHonda motorcycles rn Malaysia, and Tph Hong Piou, was the chairman

Pany Politi6 io southeasl Asia

was introduced to lift the N4alays' economic barriers but many

AIi Baba deals were made between Malays and non Malays in

an effort to share political favors and revenues' Furthermore'

the NEP implementation continued to accumulate wealth for

Chinese tycoons by allowing their businesses to expand in an

,nini"rrupt"d manner. Thus, it allowed the Barisan-led

government to sustain its legltimate power'

The third phase of the late 1980s showed that people's support

for the Barisan-led government was sustained despite internal

struggles for power and factions within UMNO and MCA' The

frictio'ns between UMNo leaders Mahathir Mohamad and

Tengku Razaleigh led to the Team A and Team B rivalry over the

p"rt"y'r .y.UoI and cultural promise5 Mahathir represented

Team A and catalyzed new ideas for Malays'business climate

that were more dynamic, sophisticated and risky On the other

hand, Tengku Razaleigh and Team B promoted a conservatlve

uppio".r, it", t *,"ion fulfilling Bumiputra (son ofthe earth'

ii",lr,t'," v.t"y9 quotas and requirements' The conflict ended

tyfearnatorrine l'leu, UMNO(UMNo baru) andTeam B being

orrt"a fo. tf," iarty and forming Semangat 46 (Case' 1995I

fo irprou" support f;om the MaLays, the New UMNO (UMNo

baru) revamped NEP's rhetoric by introducing the New

o"r"too."n, PolicY that improved credit controls lor the

,]r* ,nrort" val s arranan Ra(vaf3 or MARA (Cou'lcil of

of Publlc Bank. Both dld not receive government concession to be

leaders of their own businesses

os Majljs Amanah Rakyat or MARA (Coun.il of Trust for the

gr-'or,"r"l was established on March l' 1966 as the result of a

;;,,'J;";,;', dec.,,o-. rhe asencv s under tne oLrview or the

irlin rtrv oi awuL una n"gional Develop"ent MABA is responsible for

ii" i"i"i.p.""., encowagement, and facilitation of economic and

r".i.f a""J"pln"* wthl;thefederatlon, particularly in the rurai

areas. Details at MARA website www.mara'gov'rny/web/8uest/sejarah

wolfsans Sachsenroeder (ed)

Trust fo'the BLrmiputra) and ordered the council to open anrnvestment scheme for non-Malays as well. This interethnicintegration further secured trust and support for UNINO andBarisan.

The Barisan-led government has been successful in maintainingits egitlmacy by creating a balance ln redressing Malaygrievances while at some leve respecting non-Malay identitiesand property rights (Case, 1995: 104). Thanks to them, theresult of the 1980s throLrgh 1990s emphasis on an integratedcommunitV across the races has contrlbuted to a morecomfortable Malay and non,N/lalay confidence in work sharing(Kessler,2008). The Barisan government is now facing a newwave of polltical change where more Malays and non- Ma aysare immune to racial tension, thus th€y are forging universalapproaches to good governance, Ma aysians are alert to moneypolitics, issues of nepotism among the BaTisan- ed po itical ellte,corruption, injustice, and inequality. This new political idealismhas shlfted support away from voters that were once reservedultimate y fo. the Barisan government. A tremendous shift wasevidence of a changing political landscape in the last fourgenera elections in Malaysia, as indicated in the tables below.The results showed a gradual parliamentary seat decline for theBarisan-ed government, particulary in the 2008 generalelecrion. Athough the Barisan-led government managed tosecure the most votes in the East Ma aysian states of Sabah andSarawak when compared to states in Peninsula Malaysia, thedecline in votes across the board was obvious. The decreasednumber of parliamentary seats in 2009, only 140 down from198, came as a shock to UMNO and the Barlsan Nasionalcoa ition,The Barisan government had excellent eection records ofwlnn ng most seats in the parliament as compared to theopposton. Barisan has been tactlca y wise in securing theirvotes not on y in Sabah and Sarawak but also in the states in thePeninsula. A campaign strategy lnc uding giving away federalgrants such as RM18 mi ions for 67 schoo s in sibu, Sarawak, is

Parrv Politi.s in Soulheasl Asia

of various tactics applied by the Barisan to attract voters

and supportfrom the people (Malaysian lnsider,2010 b).

Tab|e ].: THE RESULT OF GENERAL ELECTIONS IN 2OO8 STATE AND

PARLIAMENTARY SEATS

Source: {utusan Online, 2008) Barisan Nasional (BN), Parti lslam

SeMalaysia (PAS), Democratic Action Party (DAP, Parti Keadilan

Rakyat (PKR)

The election results in 2OO8 showed a great wave of change in

the political landscape where the Barisan government lost its

2/3 majority in the parliament. Between the years 2008-2011,

there were a series of by-elections due to death and resignation

of members of parliament. Out of thirteen separate by'

elections, the Barisan government was unable to change the

number of total seats thev galned in paliament This political

tsunami has encouraged the Barisan a liance to regroup and

rethink its strategies. Tab e 3 displays the by_election results of2OO8-2011 at the state and parliamentary levels

Table 2: The by-election r€sults 2008 throush 2011

GeneralElection 2008 BN PAS DAP PKR

140 23 28 31

State seats 301 83 40

GE 2008 By elections2008-2011

Kuala Terenqqanu (P) BN

Bukit GantanP (P) PAS PAS

Permatane Pauh (P) PKR

Penanti (S) PKR PAS

Permatanq Pasir (S) BN PKR

Bukit selambau (S) BN

sibu (P) SN DAP

Manil Urai(S) PAS

Batans Al (s) PRs (BN)

Bagan Pinans (S) 8N BNHulu selangor (p) BN BNG al.s (S) PAS 8N

P85 (BN) PBS (SNlBN 8NBN BN(erdau (S) BN BN

\\'olExnE SJchsenruedc, \ed)

Sou..e SLrJnaij.!d p.,r "- Bdy: Matav:ra, 2011

P = Pa.liament, S = Federatstate searsBd.,sdr Na! o-a. {BN). pa, | (eao .Er er..yar rpt(R). pa.ti ,tam5e\4a ays,a-lrAs). DemoLrdnc A.tion pdrty lDAp), partiRatyatSarawal (PRs) part Bers;ru S.bah (pBs)l

Malaysia has a multlparty system and elections are viewed as apeaceful way to promote change in the quasi democraticgovernment in Malaysia. Trust in the election process is stillimportant because it is the avenue for political parties tolegitimize their power despite doubts in rnany aspects of theelection process (Alagappa, 1995j Mitne & Mauzy, 1999).Although the domjnant party coalition Barisan Nasional hasbeen in power for more than fifty years, competition amongpolitical parties is encouraged and continuous. Malaysia also-has several laws and reguletionsie that facilitate elections. Thusthe conduct of elections has to comply with these election lawsand regulatlons, even though some aspects such as the postalvot ng mechanisrn have been questioned for possible fraud(Milne & Mauzy, 1999).

The percentage for voter turnout in Malaysia was more than 70p€rceni of the total reglstered voters for the last frve generaelections (1990-2008), and, due to the growrng potarization,

-' There are lists of laws and regutations that iacittate ihe electionthrough Election Commrssion Malaysia such as Etection Act of 1958,Election Offenses Act of 1954, Conducts of Electjon and Regul.tions of1981, Elections (Regtstration of Etectors of 2002, and postat Votin8ReBulatrons of 2003. httpr//www.sp..gov/

Pafly Politics in Soulheast Asia

increased to nearly 85 percent in 2013. ln this landmark electionThe BN coalition lost seven seats, retainin8 133, and theopposition Pakatan coalition increased its number by seven to89. BN managed to keep a majority which would be seen ascomfortable in most European countries thanks to the highlygerrymandered votinB system which gives disproportionalweight to rura I constituencies.

The high percentage of voier turnout is due to several reasonssLlch aS voters recogni2ing and exercising their participationrights, voters receiving gjfts and cash benefits enco!rating themto join a cause, voters becoming members or strong supportersof a political party, voters havinS easv access to electionpremises/ voters receiving continuous reminders on voters,rights and election day from the national media networks. andvoters being a part of the huge number of crowds, effectivecampaigns. and entertainment that are able to atract them tobe part of the election festivities. Elections become a culturethat people look forward to celebrating or maybe even gainingprofits for local entrepreneurs selling banners, buntings, books,magazines, political CDs, food and beverages at public talksduring the election campaigns.

This paper covers five political parties including UMNO, MCA,Parti Keadilan Rakyat (pKR), Democratic Action party (DAp), andParti lslam SeMalaysia (PAS). These parties were selectedbecause each possesses unique features that can be measuredto profile its performance and stability. UMNO and IVICA are thetwo prominent parties from the Barisan government and areknown for their stronB allegiance through politics Endeconomics. Both parties have been in the political forefrontbefore independence and remain currently active. Until 2OOg,BN consisted of 13 other political partiegso including in Sabah

ji Until 2008, politicai parties in BN were UMNO, MCA, MlC, Gerakan,

Parti Progresif Rakyat (PPP), parri pe$ka Bumiputera BersatuSarawak{PBB), Parti Ralqat Eersatu Sarawak (SUpp), parti Bersatu

N oliga.B Sacbsenroeder (ed)

and Sarawak, however thls study was designed to analyze only

five active political palties. Such constraints Ied researchers to

choose among political parties that gave active voluntary

responses to and participation in this studY.

The other three polltical parties (PKR, DAP and PAS cum Pakatan

Rakyat, an opposition coalition) are strong opponents that

challenge the Barisan government's status qLlo in every state

and Senera eLection. Scholars have wrltten much on UMNO,

MCA, PAS and DAP but most articles are critical views from

before independence unti Late 1990s- ln fact, PKR, a new party

ihat has been established from resistance to social movements,

has vet to be documented. Moreover, contexts of discussion on

pollt ca parties in MaJaysia are focused separately on power

legitimacy (alagappa, 1995), leadership and authoritarianism

(Khoo, 1995; Crouch 1992 (a)), e ections (Nadzri, 2009; Ghazali,

2006), government hegemony and mechanisms to retain power

(Nidzam,2006), ethnicity and economic polarization (Gomez &

lomo 1997; lesudason, 1989i Jomo, 1986), Malaysia's

consociation, and quasi democracy and limited freedom

((esser 2OO8; Case 1.995, lesudason 1995). Therefore, this

paper maps the performance of each party using indicators such

as hi5torv, management of the partY, members'interactions,phi osophy and ideology, eaders and contrib!tions, political

cultures, strategy and target voters, and party networks'

The tota nLrmber of respondents wilLing to participate in

intensive lnterviewlng was 17 people which means more than

three respondents from each party Respondents hold a

position in thelr party hierarchy ranging from president to

divisional members who are presently representatives in the

Sabah (PBS), Parti L beral Demokratik sabah (LDP), Parti Bersaru

Rakvat Sabah(PBRS), Pertubuhan Pasokmomogun Kada'zandusun

Murlt Bersatu (uPKO), Parti Demokratik Progresif

sarawak(SPDP), Parti Rakvat Sarawak(PRSI. 'ee

Utuson Molovtio'

Nkib 1al3l2A11 Komponen BN diminto oktil doJtor pengundi baru'

http://www.utusan.com.mY/utusan/info.asp?v=2011&dt=0314&pub'utLr5an MaaYsia&sec=N/luka-Hadapan&pg=mh-04'htm (accessed

on!ine 21 March 2011)

Parry Potjrics in Southeast Asia

parliament. lnterviews were done on separate occasionsaccommodating the respondents, schedules. Most Statementsgiven are consistent to one another for each distinct party. Theiropinions are integrated into the discussions in order to maintainanonymity as requested. The descriptions Elven by respondentsare not verified further as to maintain as possible respondentsopinions, experiences. and emotions.

United Malays Natlonal Organization (UMNO)l.lMNO was founded in May, 1946 as a reaction a8ainst theBritish colonial's administration,s proposal on the establishmentof the Malayan {Jnion, a united state of Malaysia. The proposalwas to abolish the monarchy system that had been in practicesince the existence of Malaya and was intended to introducethe recognition of awarding the immjgrants (Chinese andlndians) with citizenship without delay (Funston, 19BO). Theresistance was persisten! thus the Malayan Union failed.However, the British established a requirement forindependence that the various political parties based on ethnicgroupings shoL.rld work together. Thus in 1955, the perikatanwas established to meet the challenge. The perlkatan was acoalition of three major political parties that representeddifferent ethnic g.oups such as UMNO (a Malay-based party),MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association), and MtC (Malaysianndian congress). The first pre election was conducted in 1955

to assess the support from the people ofTanah Melayu with theidea of independence. The perikatan swept 5l seats out of S2 ina pre-electjon. This pre-independence election was able toconvince the British that Tanah Melayu and the coalition wereready to govern the couhtry independently. Thus, theindependence of Tanah Melayu was declared by the British onAugr.lst 31, 1957. The first election after independence was in1959 and the coalition was given enormoLls advantage for itsmajority victory (74 seats in parliament out of 104). tn 1973, thePerikatan changed its name to B.risan Nasional and the Barisangovernment has dominated the parliament since independence.

!.

i.&.

Wolfgang Sachsentoeder (ed)

The coalltion brought success to them because voters tended toe €ct parties that were multiracia (Azrnan, 2008).

Other po itical parties joined the coalltion on separateoccasions, such as Parti Bersatu Sabah (pBS), parti Gerakan, andParti Pesaka Burniputera Bersatu (pBB). pAS (parti lslamSeMa aysia), SNAP (Sarawa ( National party) and SUpp (sarawakUnited People's Party) were in and out of the Barisan coalition.PAS joined the Barisan in 1973 and it was subsequentlV reiectedin 1977. Other political parties such as pBS (parti Bersatu Sabah)and PBDS (Parti Be.satu Dayak Sarawak) were in and out of acoalition a few times. PBS is in the Barisan coalition hitherto,while PBDS is now dissolved. The popular image of thecoalition's capability is that it represents a I races in a pluralsociety lke Malaysia. tt carrles the images of sharing,cooperating, progressing, and a v sion for nation bui ding withinthe Ma ayslan culture. t also hlghlights the image of stabilityJ'd pea.e r-ar ut I Budrantee urity and hJpp'ness.

UIVINO plays a malor roie in determining progress and stabilityfor this country. The party has been in power with the aliiancesof MCA and M C for more than 53 years. The coercive coalitionamong these parties has been necessary to ba ance the delicaterelationship in a multiethnic community. As UMNO is part oftheBarisan that formed the government, it utilizes agencies such asBira Totonegaro (BTN)r1 and program Latihdh Khidmdt Negard(PLKN or the National Service Trainlng program)s, as ways of

5L Biro Tataneg.ra or BTN is an agency admtn stered dtrectty under the

Prime M nister's Depanment. One ofrhe manyobjectives isto provtdea f rst hand Lrnderstandifg of patriotGm afd history, with rhe aim ofcultivai ng accountability and dscipine na civit servants delveringserv ces to c trzen5 5ee deta l5 at http //www.btn.sov.mv/ {accessedon ine on 3l.lanuary 2011).!':erogram Lathan Khdmat Negara (prKN) or the Nationat ServiceTraining Program ls a program designed for 17 year otd youths thatare selectively drafted ro join this trainifg for one year. The rationalefor this prosram is to bond Malaysian yolrhs together with the soat ofcreating a Ma aysian nation by increastng rac a integraiion and

party politics in Southeast Asia

cultivating patriotism. youths are compelled to join the:l::r-"T: ""0

they are co.srdered as new caders i1 rhe yourn

:"],t^'":i^'l: _l:* althou8h join;ns rhe pe.ry forma,ty ,supuuldt ro 0ar tcipants, Anolne. tooj is aKU JANJ , or a consentagreement, which is mandatorv for oubliico.npry wirn as an asre",";i ;;";:;1"'":i'JilI#:l?l,ill::y::ltl: tr arso tesdrty binds rhem nol ro commiL any actio.s"::",,],,,"" oy rne governneiI ro be subversive. Th:s oveT-utrl,zalto'l of governmerr age,]cies ro secu.e )Lopo-r dndr'rl'uen_ce leadr to elrensive p.opaganda asso(.ared wirh anyoeveropment project Jnder rne potiti(al oanne. ot Barisan.u'vlNU c'|aims LhaL its party,s phi,osoDhy is un,ty andcoooe,ar,on-', Howeve UM\O is a \,4a,a!-based oa.ty tiat ,.,",

:::l-::lr, ': pro-no, nB tl-e o.".ul.r., o" of Matdv r,snrs dndpr vleges. t.onicJ. y. under rne U\,tNO cum BdnsdngovernmFnl, the M"tays hJVA lo.t most of the:r ctaims, sJch asthe Mal:v

. , .. _,:, ro- private bus.nesses, the

:::llll:",'"" cards rnaL no to.se, sr:re tne \ratay race, rheorscontrnuat|o1 ol (cnorarships ror Ma,ays, rhe Valay language

l::IC,-cr]dtierg.ed in schoots and beirg no tonge. offic;at lnpracr'ce lor pr'vdte sectorr, and rne rnega-p.OJects thar areo,,e'ed to rnutti-dr'onal co11pantes (tzant. 2007). Neverthe,ess,

reducifg

^'"cirr poarizalbi hro./,wwvv.^h,dmarregdra.Bov._y/

onrrne on 31JanLrary 2OI)

- ,o.ne.-or'vato" to Join uv\o tor rhe \4ardvs:c p"rr orisrr dnd:,j:^:l".T "r)9,,"rms trar,r rds .ore r.r rhree m,rronme-0ei aro-.d Mrtcyna. the .LmbF, or n.w me_oersjoinirB rheoarty sig'r.itd1fly ouLr^.,8h, rnose pe.sons wro ted!. Ordrn"rymen oFr, m;y n01 be dDre to in( -ea-e Ine.. _ocral s-aru. by,oinine thiij^.i fi- , "1."".,who

ndve ose r",drroas ro rhp co-e erRe anopos.r.or\ - pa4v d.v.\io., ,voutd be db.e to enjoyi".::.: lli"9" alo'|e'pec'| sncane^ o',.o'a,compone rs :n,he

d pe1o.a, iFwa.d ro ",t woJ,d bF e^pe.s ve dndo.rtr:geoJs However f someo. ei.i. ow. rorhe-ooporrriiars, treo,she can work towards geti np the rew..d(

Wolfeang Si'hsenroeder (ed)

at a recent UMNO Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October

2010, most UMNO mernbers were sti I addressing the o d scripts

such as a quest for Malay's unity, prosperity, privilege, and

rights. The AGM meeting is a platform for IJMNO members to

share their thoughts and grievances, and to get their taLent

noti.ed bv the hiEher ranking members in the party However,

any statements that cater soely to the Malay needs will be

viewed as racist (Malays akini,2010 a).

Furthermore UMNO needs to be alert on critical issues such as

education, hea th care provision, corruption, good governance,

and accountability for politicians and civil servants. The costs of

edLrcation and facllltles are skyrocketing each year and funds for

echolarships are insufficient to support many impoverished

students from rural areas. The changing provision from MARA'S

(MajLis Arnanah Rakyat or Council of Trust for the Bumiputera)

or JPA's l.Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam or Public Servlce

Department of Ma!aysia) full and partial scholarships to

Perbadanan Tabung Pend dikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN or

National Higher Education Fund Corporation) has substantially

darraged UMNO's credibility to protect the needy MalaYs-

Furthermore, the practlce of good governance pending

investigations of several reported ca5e5 of corruption has been

used by opposton parties agalntt UMNO and Barisan The

integrty of the Sovernment was recentlV qLrestioned in the

handling of two separate homicide cases. Police enforcement

was questioned ln the death of A (ugan, 23, who dled whi e in

police custody (Hafiz, 2010). The other, Teoh Beng Hock, 30,

was a political aide to Mr- Ean Yong Hian Wah. Hock was found

dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, where the Selangor

office of the Malaysian Anti_Corruption Commission was

located. The night before, he had given a witness statement on

al eged abuse of alLocatons for state assemby persons ln

Selangor (Hafiz, 2010). The goveroment was ready to establish

an lndependent commission to lnvestlgate the homicide cases

of Teoh Beng Hock and A (ugan, as both invoved questioning

the integrily of public services. The ironY is that the majoritY of

ParV Polilics in Southeast Asia

public civil servants are Malays, and these isolated cases can beused as a weapon to create an issue of discrimination. Anavenue for preventing this issue from being manipulated wouldbe for the government to conduct a transparent investigationsand fair hearings.

Promotion in the party hierarchy is ri8id and difftcLrlt. UMNO is avery structured party and members who aim to hold evendivisional leadership posts may take years to convince othermembers aad leaders of their competence_ one way to advanceis if a member is supported by core leaders in the party; he orshe may then leap the stages of positions. IJMNO holds a partyconvention once every three years to elect new members in theparty organization. Top positions rn the party are Lrnlikely to bechallenged, although it is constitutionally permissible; howeverin a feudalistic society such behaviour is interpreted asdisloyalty and it co!ld lead to termination. UMNO leans towardpolitical reforms' in its party where most divisional levelpositions are chosen through elections.Furthermore, UMNO has certain procedures to selectcandidates for election. Candidate selection within the party is arational top-down approach. lJsually the divlsion head wlllrecommend the candidate and an assessment will be made by

5a For the pany members to adhere ro rhe constitutron, a common

assumption is that party members will stricrly follow the guidelines.However if the rules are not acceptab e, mernbers are able to raheissues in their meetings and they will be brought up to higher levelcommittees that are responsible for investigating complaints. The roleof ordinary members is atiendinB meetinSs held r the AGM (AnnuaLGen€ral Meeting) at the headquart€rs and divisional levels. Theconvention or meeting is important because rhis is the time formembers to bring up their proposals or gr evances so thar they wi I berevjewed and debated at th€ national level. However there are 'yes-men'who will agree to everything the branch or division headssuggest. A sliEht reform is arlsing in UMNO because tod.y membersare abie to speak thelr minds and any divisional complaints will beinvestigated.

\\'olfgadg Srchsenroeder (ed)

the higher committee members at the party headquarters. fthe assessment is convincing, then the candidate will beaccepted. Factors for a candidate,s rejection include infamousimage, arrogance, poor rapport or corruption, declaredbankrupt, aziness, or any other shortcominB. lf the candidate isacceptab e and the party,s leaders are confident that he or shecan deliver, then he or she will be fielded as a candidate.Norrnally candidates come from the lower ranks and matureover the years from youth w ng to the division level. Duringthat process they will attend public speaking courses;understand the history of UMNO as well as the historv ofoooos r'or, oro dlso w-o s who i- tne po,it (al sce1e. A I tn.slearrrng tal,s yedrs oul ,n time when rhe canoioare shtne\, thedivision head or the party leader will advance that candidate.-heoret'ca l\ p!erybodv has a chance. b-r when the div.sionhedd dis i^es so-neo1e tt lne pa,Ly, he is aole ro decimare thatperson's,political career, even to the gressroots level, Training isprovided for new members. A member will start from the yo;thw ng where he or she may ho d a position at the division evesuch as youth leader, deputy, secretary, treasurer orinformation chief. As a person progresses, he or she will benoticed by lomeone and wil be recorhmended to lead someforrn of committee Based on this fact, the party does preparethe next generation of leaders by assessing a member,scredentiaJs and contributions to the party. Workshoos ando oE amS ior po t5- ng revt eeder) a.e orgar,zed wtthi.r theparty. During that period, anyone who s seen to be a forcefLrlleader over tlme will be nominated. The present leader caninit ate the idea of replacement with the majority or popu arsupport of the members. Each party in the Bar san has its owhyoLrth, men's and women,s win8s. They play major roles in thecore structure. The pEMUDA represents UMNO,S male youth,PERGERA(AN WANTA and pLJTER] UMNO represent rhewornen's wings, and both MIC and MCA have the men,s andwomen's wings named pEMUDA and WANTTA for MIC and MCArespectlvely.

Part] Poljrics in Southeasr Asia

The membership fee is nominal, RM2 per year and it is enforcedat each division in the partv. Additionallv, UMNO has stablefinancial sources from corporate businesses, a5 it has investedin publicly listed companies such as Merlin, paremba, Renong,and Fleet Holdings (Jamaie ZOO5, Gomez 1990 & 1991, Jomo &Gomez 1997). UMNO also receives donations from a fewcompanies su€h as the Shaw Brothers (19GOs and 1970s), timGoh Thong through Gentlng Berhad and Daim zainuddinss(Foad, 1988; Fatini, 1997). Thus UMNO has stable financialresources to manoeuvre the party,s activities and campaignstrategies. All f{rnds come from the party headquarters. lnaddition the party has investments in publicly l5ted companiesand donations collected from various sources that are takencare of by the party treasurer. Monie5 donated to divisions orheadquarters are managed by an :ppointed paTty treasurer andthe party's financial report is audited internally to verify theaccounts. The audit teams are members who are qualified toconduct the internal and externat audits. Their reports wil, besharedwith al membersof the partyand interested others.

The privilege of being in power leads UMNO to use governmentagencies as a mechanism to sustain its power and influence.Over fifty-three years, UMNO,s intention to manipulategovernment facilities to finance its e ectjon campaigns is wellknown. The invented perspective that government is UMNOand UMNO is Bovernment allows such inconceivable actions tota(e place. Government facilities such as pubic schoos andlocal government facilifles such as Majlis perbandaran (TownHall) are utilized for public talks and campaigns. Voters arebribed with special gifts such as cash, borlk sorong56, a package

tt Daim Zainuddin was a former Finance Manister of Mataysia in 1984.He was the man responsib e for expanding and strengtheningbLrsine5ses for the paremba and F€et Hodngs. Expandlng thesebenef ited UMNO substantially (lamaie, 2OO5:130).

j6 Saronq ls a Malay word meaning a ength offabric usedfor covering

which s often wrapped around the wast and worn as a kitt by men

\\'olfgans SachsenroedeL (ed)

of rice, improved road paving, etc to buy votes in rural areas(Muhammad Nadzri,2009). Today, this strategy is no longerab e to influence voters, particularly in Kelantan where votersaccept gifts but do not vote for UMNO or Barisan in the end.The states of l(e antan, Kedah and Penang aTe governed by thePakatan Rakyat opposltion coalition stnce the 2008 e ection andmany other states'representatives are from the pakatan.

UMNO has recorded to spend millions of ringgit for itscampaigns and this overspending is not subject to any legaldec aration that cou d allow the discovery of dubious funds.Throughout the party recordsr, on y a couple of members havebeen ousted. For examp e, Anwar brahim was a mernber ofUMNO He was the second man to Dr. Mahathir Mohamad andhis influence chalenged Mahathir's relgn of power. AnwaT,spress statement to compete for the posltion of vice president in

and as a rkirt by women throughout Southeast Asia and the pacific

s ands The lovely baaik patterns on r.any sarongs come from meltingwax on the fabric lrefore d\1rA)t. See Haw to Tie a Majaysion Sorang,by Melissa Leaman )anraty 21,2071www.ehow.com/how 7857200,tie-malaysian-sarong.html

" Another case was Iengku Razaleigh Harnzah and a few UMNOmembers ncuding Rais Yaiim, and Zalnal Abidin Zin who decided toex t from UMNO. Tengk! lnd his fol ow€rs res gned from the partydue to irreconcilab e differences with the parry teader, Dr MaharhirMohamad, and TenSku Razaleigh and his fo lowers decided to formSemansat 46 (Wain, 2009). The Semangar 46 survtved for severayears untl Razaeigh was persuaded by UMNO leaders to dissolve it.After some years they were back with UVINO and disbanded the 546party. Tengk! Raza eigh ls now the Barisan state representative forGua MusanB {a city and districr in Kelantan) and serves as an UMNOloyalist Other members such a5 Ra s Yatlm. and Zainal Abidin Zinreturned to UMNO too and they pres€ntly ho d mtntste.ial posirtons.Based on these incldents, a party member .an be dism ssed, but itsedom occurE and depends on the lssue at hand, partcuarty a

disagreemeft that chalenges a pa(y eader.

Pady potirjcs in SourheastAsia

UMNO against Abdul Ghafar Baba in front of the mediaconference in the early 1990s was well-executed and shockedthe UN4N0 elite. Anwar was able to rally support io defeatAbdul Ghafar Baba but he underestimated Mahathir,s way ofshutting down his opponent. Some members thought thatAnwar lbrahim was too vocal in addressing money politics andcorrupiion in the party because Anwar had done several thingsto clean up party corruption, including establishing a committeeto combat corruption. At the 34th IJMNO Annual GeneralMeeting (AGM) in September, 1985 Anwar exposed politiciansin IJMNO who were condoning money poljtjcs to buy votes andthreatening members as means of securing votes. Such daringsteps and rndependent mind landed hlm a harsh ounishmentwLien he was dismisqed due to a godomy dccJs;tion il I99g dndimprisoned for six years (Muhammad Nadzri, 2OO9). Upon hisrelease his wife, Wan Azi2ah, formed pafti (eadiian Rakyat{PKRI as a prompt response to a massive social movement insupport ofAnwar. Both are now strong pKR political figures.

lmportant leaders and their main contributionsAilfive prime ministers of Malaysia so far are UMNO members.The first was Tunku Abdul Rahman, and he was respected andrecognized by the people as the Father of lndependence. Thesecond prime minister was Tun Abd{r Razak and \i/as known asa Father of Development, The nation recognized his enormouscontrlbution to education ancl scholarship systerns, pubicfacilitles, and the Five,year plan of Economic Development thatled to the establjshment of the Economic planning Unit, etc. Thethird prime minister was Tun Hussein Onn. He was nominatedas the Father of Unity based on his emphasis of uniting allgovernment programs and reducing the polarization jn socio_economic status among races (Diane & Mauzy, 1999).The fourth prime minister was Dr Mahathir IVlohamed. He was anatlonally innovative, creative and a critical charismatic leader(Wain, 2009). He fulfi ed rhe meaning of deve opment in allasoects o! er ono^nv, polir'cc aro soc,ety ra,pecr.vely. He wasIFe lo_gesl .ervt.lg o-i11e n n ,Le. t.l tl-e cour-.y s h:srory ( n

\\ olliars Snchsenrocder ('d)

povver from 1981-2003) and he was referred to by rnany worldleaders as a Third World Hero. His outspoken style to repositionMalaysia as an independent country with an activist foreignpollcy has made Dr N/lahathir lnfamous (Waln, 2009). Hechampioned issues of unequal impact of globalization to theThird Word, and he was vocal in addressing coff icts in theMiddle'East and the hegemony of the USA (Wain, 2009). He

nvented many pollcies to empower the society includlng theLook East Policy, Vislon 2020, privatlzation, etc. Despite hispos tlve lmage and contributions, Mahathils era was marked as

an authoritarian regirne that committed severa human rightsvloations (Crouch, 1992; Khoo, 1995). During his era, thelnternal Security Act of 1950 was frequenty used to detainactivists v/ithout due process. The Official Secrets Act of 1972

amended in 1986 was used as a means to prohiblt thedlssemlnation of informatlon determined by the government as

classlfied that further nurtured nepotism ln the country andmade prlvatlzauon a uturn policy under question (lomo, 1994

& 1995). The Police Act of 1957 provided an unclear p.ocedure

for peope to organize pubic gatherings, which has beenblatantly used to abuse citizens or demonstrators who gatheredpeacefuly. Flnaly the Printlng Presses and Publications Act of1984 was used to deny icenserenewa to newspapers includlngHardkah and Suoro Keadilon, thus llmlting freedoms of thepress and speech (Khoo, 1995;Jesudason, 1995).

Addltlonally, the concentration of an effective decislon-makingauthority at the nationa leve is in the hands ofthe executivebranch and committee members ofthe parLlament. All decisionsare discussed and votes of a 2/3 majority are required in orderto pass as legislatlon. The interaction between party andparl amentary groLrps ls cose, considering that most seniorparty eaders are appointed into the government publlc service,As a matter of fact, Maiaysia's parliamentary system s a

dlffusion of power wherein members of the Executive branch

are also mernbers of the Legislature. Therefore, both the upperand lower houses of parliament are strongly connected. The

Party potirics in Southeast Asia

Executive power was excessively used during Dr Mahathir,stenure when it was used arbitrariy to terminate six judgesincluding the former lord president Salih Abbas, AzmiKamaruddin, Eusoffe Abdoolcader, Wan Hamzah MohamedSllleh, Wan Suleiman pawanteh, and George Seah(Ma aysiakini, 18 Aprjl 2O0g). Moreover executive power wasused to convince the majority of the house of representatjves toamend the constitution that removed the immunity of thetraditional Sultans who are now subject to legal litigation forany wrongdoing.

ln fact, in 1999 rnost Malay voters were unhappy with DrMahathir's way of handling the Anwar lbrahim case. his formerdeputy, The manner of Anwar,s ouster and indictment forhomosexuality (which is punishable under Malaysian law) andother sexual misdemeanours before the courts tarnlshed DrMahathir charismatic image. Mahathir was ca led to resign bythe masses and pu6lic protests by thousands of people on thestreets marked a gloomy history besides the 1969 racial riots.Anwar s il ,treatment while under police custody was exposedwhen he appeared in his first court case with a black eye. Thegovernment denied any conspiracy to assault Anwar, but latea apolice inquiry revealed that the lnspector General of police (lGp)had confessed to assauking Anwar while Dr Mahathir accusedAnwar of self-infiicted injury and denied instructing the lcp toassaut Anwar, The Malaysia court was condemned as ,,a

ka.lga.oo coJ.t" wren iL an.rounced a gJ.tty ve-o.cr n Arwar,sLr:al l Apr;l 1999 ard se'ltenceo h.n ro s.^ ye.-).mpr.so..renron charges of having misused his authority to cover upallegations of sexual misconducr (Cheah, 2OO2). Mahathi.,spopular politicat quote ,1 did it my way,, has labelled him anauthoritarian leader (Khoo, 1995).The fifth prime minister was Abdullah Ahmad Badawi whoserved as foreign minister in Mahathir,s administration before.In terrns of service, he served the fewest years of all primeMinisters. He was known as the main contributor to the conceoi

wolfgaig Sachse,roeder (ed)

of lslom Hodhdti'! where the emphasis was given to inte8ratingthis concept into all aspects of human and nationaldeve opment The sixth and also the current prime minister is

Naj b Tun Razak. He took office in 2008 and has been tryinghard to build his own reputation awBy from his late father, whowas the second prime minister of Malaysia. Najib introducedl!,e lMdloysio5'initiatlve that has been mocked by theopposition as an empty vessel that acks the power of nationalunity.Past leaders were viewed by most respondents as far-sighted, with forceful political wills. As a result, UMNO underprevlous leaders had a profound track record that helpedmaintain malority support oJ N,lalays wlthin its party. Howevertime plays an important role in evaluating recent voting declinesfor UMNO. ln the past, th€ level of education of most people inthis country was stll Low and illteracy was still high in ruraareas. Past generations were easily impressed with a feweducated people and ascribed to their political agendas. Nowthe increased numbers of the middle class population result incrltcal vlews on the government. New demands for good

rs Ihe word "Hadhari" denotes "the civilazed," and it focuses on theaspects of lslam that accenruate civilired society. ln English, the termmost appropnEte for the word would be "civilizational lslam," and itseq!vaent n Arabc, "a1-lsam al Hadhari." UKM has an lnsttutecalled lslam Hadhari that s responsible for promoting civilizationalls am in all aspects of knowl€dge, academia, and Bovernance. Details

http://p (ukmweb.ukm.my/v3linder.php?option=com_content&view=

artic e&id=119&ltemid=234&lanC=en"The lMalaysia slogan includes the concept of respect and t.ustamong dlfferenl ethnic groups. This mutual understanding could betrans ated nto programs and po cies. The lMalaysia slogan ls a warmrem nder to all that the nat on feeds all Sroups to work to8ether, eventhou8h they may i'rgree lo disagree," in order to promoie theircommon interests See Lee Wei Lian 2009. The Malaysian lnsider.Najibwants OneM. .ys a "www.thema ayslanlns der.com/index.php/nra ayrla/21999

Pany Politics ii Southeasr Asia

governance challenge the very nature of the status quo and the

feudalistic system rooted in Malaysia. People start questioning

goveTnment's development of mega-projects, demanding iheirrights to be restored, wantlng equal distributlon of national

wealth, asking for transparency and good Sovernance, and

voicing the enforcement ofthe rule of law to ensure that no one

is above the law, even politicians in power.

IJMNO: campaign strategies and targetgroupThe Barisan coalition controls all access to the media. They

utllize al1 access to the media includinB television, internet,

newspapers, radio, and flyers to promote their agendas. The

strategies Lrsed to attract voters are culturally meaningful For

instance, political leaders from the Earisan will appear

frequently on television and in newspapers showing populist

images such as attending rituals and ceremonles involving

children, elderly and people with disability. Reaching out to the

community in both urban and rural areas through donations,paving roads, increasing school beneflts, and awarding land

ownershlp to rural developers through governmental agencies

such a5 FELDA5o are also common. fhe excessive use of media

@ FELDA standsfor the Federal Land Development Authority,

established on l luly 1956 under the Land Development Ordinance

(Land Development Ordinance) of 1956. FELDA functions provided

under the Act (Amendment 1991)are as followsr 1)toimplement land

development projects; 2)to promote, facilitate and implement thedevelopment, manaSement and economic, soclal, sgrlcu tLrral,

sett ement, lndustria , commerc al and other anclllary activitles in the

areas authorized for FELDA land development proiects or areas owned

by FELDA and its subsidiariesj 3l to implement the use of modern

techn ques and practices in the agriculturalsector in areas wherethe

FELDA is author zed, especiallY n actlvities reLEted to the production,

processlng and marketlng of agricultural produce and livestocki and to

assist, Suide, advise, manage and coordinate the placementof social,

agricultural, industrial and commercialactavities in the FELDA area

From AprlL 2004, FELDA was placed under the Prime Minister and

Minister in charse of Felda is Najib T!n Razak

www.f elda.net.my/f eldav2/.

wol igang Sachsenlocder (ed)

to promote the Barisan political agendas is offensive because

the media never gives a fair chance for the opposition to appearon anv medla. The oppostion parties have to channel theirresolutions through alternative meda such as internet blogs

and their own newspapers,

Poitical party campaigns are propagated daily and officialcampaigns for e ectlons usLra ly begin after the parliament is

dissolved by the Prime Minister. The new rules stipulated by

Election Commission Malaysia allow political parties to run theircampalgns for only two weeks before the rea election begins.

During this period, posters, banners, buntlngs, stickers, party

fla8s, caps, and batches are posted and given away for free topeople. some candidates organize an event with performers toentertarn the audiences and give away free gifts to people whoattend the campaigns. Ths strategy brings huge crowds toUMNO'5 political talks and attracts voters to listen to theirpoliticalagenda.

Carrpaig' tact'c' i_c ude houre to-5ouse carrpaigns, open

campaigns, onl ne and media campalgns, which are normalprocesses. Usually the target groups are the ladies orhousewives because women constitute the higher population

cornpared to men. Explanatlons on the party objectives and

agendas w rbe glven to them and participants are also allowedto question the campai8n managers or candidates directly. For

rnstance, the women's and the youth wings of UMNO will go

from door-to'door campa gning, persuading, and influencing

!he voters to vote for UMNO and Barisan. ln fact, Barisan

utilizes government facilities for its political campaign and thiscreates politcal leverage for UMNO to mount its offensive

strategy aga nst the opposition (Muhammad Nadzri, 2009).

Addine to the campaign strategies, the mechanism to

Pany politics in Soutteasl Asia

determine the running candidates for general elections is basedon a formula that requires deliberate and careful assessmentfrom each component party, The BN formula is dynamic andmay change conditionally depending on emergent politicalsituations. First and foremost, the BN will establishunderstandin8 and tolerance among its component parties.Althou8h mutual understanding and tolerance may be thecr reria for delermining seats for e.ect.ols, U\,4\O nas the tinalsay for the seat6L a ocation lMohd Foad Sakdan, I997).

Political culture in UMNO

Patron-client relations are a fundamental element in thepolitical culture in Malaysia. The political leaders are masters ofsubordjnating members. Members give their loyalty and theyare obliged to their leaders. Although it is limited within theBarisan, it nonetheless creates a league of its own in terms ofpatronage. Money politics has been highlighted by scholarlyresearch (Gomez, 1991; Jamaie, 2OOS). The forms of moneypolitics inclLrde vote buying, corporate and individual sponsorsto candidates that will promote the corporate/individualinterests, tenders, luxury gifts, vacation packages, and

6' Seat allocation ior ca^drdates is assessed by the dominant party in

the race in Fach idennfied consrituency. tf any BN member (fromUMNO, l\,1CA, MtC, Gerakan, etc.) is not strong rn a constituency ordoes not dominate the race, thei BN wi allocate a seat that a towsanother race to assist in seclring the winning seat. However, if aconstituency is dominated byrhe Chinese communities that are strongDAP supporters, tBN is willing to sacrifice a candidare from any of it;components slch as UMNO or IvlC to avoid MCA tosing that seat inparliament. BN witt put the MCA candtdate in. strong Malay UMNOarea, the.eby allowing the MCA candidate to win and secure a seat inParliament or the State. Furthermore, if a constituency has a 50-50chance of being won by BN, then BN wi plr a candidate from any ofits component parries into thai race with predictable certainty.

\! olfgang Sachsenroeder (ed)

ctizenship, to name a few. Furthermore, money poLitics are

becom ng serious in UlvlNO, Securing a senior position in the

party would necessltate members investing large sums of

money ln order to buY support and win the election. For

lnstance, the Chief Minister of Melaka, Ali Rustam, was

suspended from runnlng as a candidate in the UMNO General

Assemblv elections in 2009. He was accused of condoning

money politics and a owlng his a8ents to distribute money to

UMNO delegates to vote for hlm. His two agents were also

suspended from UMNO po itlcs for three years (Malaysiakini,

2oo9 b). The sutpension of eight more UMNo leaders foroffences reLated to monev po!ltics reflects the party's

deterrnination to curb the practice that was reportedly filtering

down to the grassroots. Thls event marked the thlrd time theparty's d scip inary board announced its findings. In the last twocases, in May and lune of 2001, 12 officials were suspended.

These decisions are commendable, as mere warnings seem not

to have the desired effect (News Strait Times, 2001). Although

glving money as an inducement to voters is cearly a corruptpractice, Al Rustam remains the Chlef Mlnister of Melaka unti

present whi e the other UMN0 leaders face suspension for a

few months. Cearly the discipllnary board of UMNo is

ineffective. The rampant money poLitlcs in IIMNO is an indicator

of factlonalism. SecLrrlng victory through vote buYlng ls in

tandem of dlspensing patronage,6'/ln other words, those who

clole out monev are those who are wi llng to dole out

" Otler UVt,lO members such as Abdul Kadir Shiekh Fadzir and

Shahrr Samad were among members that losi in election for a

position n UtvlNO's supreme co!nci1 in 2004 Former Tourism Minister

and UMNo Supreme Councll member Abdul Kadir Shiekh Fazr

revealed that money po tics really took place in UMNO e ectlons.

Additiona y UMNO vet€ran Shahrir Samad who was known a5'Mrclean" for his prlnciple not to indu ge in vote blying finished at ihe

bottom three in the contest for the post of UMNO vice'pres dent (Anll

Netto,2004)

Paqr Politics in Souflreait Asia

patronage. However those who apparently have money but notin a position to dispense patronage may not guarantee awinning position in the party. Such factionalism is commonamong political parties that have been in power and dominantfor so long. ln fact, UMNO has a rule where no contests areallowed for the top two posts in UMNO, therefore, moneypolitics are manoeuvred among members for other centralpositions in the party (Anil Netto, 2004).

Nepotism in business and politcs is also central in the ooliticalculr.rre. Anyone related by blooo o. close to the co.e potiLicalleaders such as siblings, relatives, and close friends, friends offriends, party members, and networks will enjoy the privileSe ofnepotism. Favouritism is paramount when it comes to familiesand friends networking across all races in the Barisan,63However, developments are progressing in Malaysia becausethe structures are get$ng more accountable,

Candidate snatching is peculiar to the political culture here, andcandidate hopping from one party to another is common. Theusual scenario is that a representative from the opposition partywins the election on either federal or state level and he or shesuddenly leaps to the Earlsan party for reasons such as moneypolitics, clashes of ideology, or competing interests.

53 Political famiies are central in the Malaysian potitical cutture. For

instance, the son of the Second prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak. is_ow lhe Ei'th Pri. e I in.srer ot Vd dy< a, \ajib AboL qa/c( ]']e(onls fo lowing his faiher's careeri Abdul Razak,s other sons ako hotd ioord,lk -g pos flon, rr r..ar (ia 1.riruro1. and o,sinexes. T e thrroPrime lvlinister, Tun Hussein Onnt son, Hhhamudjn Hussein, nowholds the position as Minister of Security, The fourth prime mifister,Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, ha5 a son who is a b!sinessman and a so aleader in PEN/UDA UMNo. The fifrh prime Minister, Datuk AbdutahBadawi, dec ded to retire earty but has a son in the Aircraft businessand a son-in-law as the Head of pEVtUDA UMNO cum a member of

wolfgang Sachsenroeder (ed)

Addltiona y, a crisls in Perak dramatically showcased candidateshopping after the 2008 genera elections. ln Perak, the PakatanRakyat coalition \,!on 31 seats as compared to BN's 28 seats.This razor-thln victory gave rise to a new form of BNmanipulation,6a

Dating back to th s actual crisis, the talk of electedrepresent.t ves jumping parties was started by the Pakatanleader, Anwar brahim, soon after the March 8, 2OO8 generale e.tion. There the BN lost its two-thirds majority and some fivestates to the opposltion. Anwar declared ihat he had as manyas 30 members of parl ament in his fold and that they wouldcross over to the Pakatan Rakyat. Anwar predicted that the BNgovernment wou d fa by september 16, 2008. As a matter offact the dates began changlng based on where he hed hisral ies. However, the situation was reversed because The Sultanof Perak and the 3 independent state assemblymen declaredthelr support to the ruling BN, thus paralyzing the Pakatanattempt to retain power ln Perak as we I as to form a Pakatangovernment in parliament.Regardless of criticism and crises, thegoveTnance of the E ection Commission Malaysia, the agency

iI

i.

irtIt

l&H

6o rormer pera < Menterl Besar N zar Jamaluddin launched his bookI I ed Perak: A Stdte al Crisli ln Dec€mber 12, 2010. He revealed thatthe loss of Pakatan led Perak government was due to themanlpulations of the BN who kidnapped three Pakatanrepr€sentat ves and then lllegally dec ared that they had the nrajoritywhich allowed them to form the state of government with the supportof the Perak Sutan Three representatives from Pakatan chose tobeconre ind-.pendents .nd declared their support for the ruling BN

ncludirg lamaLrddin Mohd Radzi (PKR state representatlve fromBehrang), Mohd Osman.laiLu (PKR state representative from Changkatlering) and Hee Yit Foong (DAP state representative from lelapang).After the crossovers, the BN seat count was st I 28, whi e Pakatan wasreduc€d to 28 seats with three independents supporting BN. See,

Hazlan Zakaria. Nizar hlt at book launch on 8N's Perak takeover.December 12, 2010 at malaysiakin .com/news/150632

Pady Politics ln Souihedl Asia

that is responsible to conduct the election for federal and state

levels, ls good. The agency has organized technical regulationsfor pre- and post-processes of the election. lf disputes regardingthe voting system occur, the process for recount wlll be donefollowing a court order (Kartini, 2009). The electoral systems are

accountable to the Election Act of 1958. There was a reform tothe electoral system in 2OO0 (the loth election) wheregerrymandering was implemented to reconstruct the dlstrictlines. The n€w dlstricts were identified and districts voting pro-government were given more seats in parliament than districtsthat were strong suppoTters of opposition parties. Thus,gerrymanderlng has been criticlzed for being discriminatorythrough invalidation on the grounds of population equality.Another reform attempt was to introduce the permanent lnkstarnp to voters in the 2008 election. This rnechanism was

meant to prevent any fraudulent voters from multiple voting.However, the Electlon Commlssion came under pressure by thegovernment and this mechanism was discarded (Kartini, 2009).

Public relations and general imageThe Barisan controls most rnedia including newspapers and

television. UMNO owns Ut.rson Malaysio and it has a stronginfluence over Berito Horidn and New Strait Times, and MCA

owns the stor newspapers and is also very influeniial towardother chlnese printed media. Moreover, BN's well connectedbusiness people such as Vlncent Tan and Ananda Krishnan also

own private newspapers and television networks, glving BN theedge to be pop!lar on media. lt is normal for po itlca parties tobefriend journalists and some medla pe.sonalities are clearlysympathetic to political parties. For lnstance, RTM (Roncangon

Televisian Maloysia) is owned by the government; whoeverleads the government will have the dominant support fromRfM. Other television stations (ry3. TV9, NfV7, Astro) need loapply and renew their licenses, and a few lmportant poljtlcal

figures are stakeholders in the medla. 0bviously support for theBarisan government is paramount. The public relatlons arm ofthe partv is convincing to the public. Positive images on media

woilsais Sachsenroeder (ed)

such as emphasizing patriotism, deve oping new infrastructures,providing we fare benefits to low income people, empoweringunity among races and many more highlight UMNO and Barisanpo icies. The visibi ity of Barisan is obvious before and duringthe election. Media coverage wiil highlight the Barisan image asPoPUlist.N/ledia became subservient to and compliant with the rullng BNafter the incldent of medla clarnpdown in 1987. The star, theSin Chew Jit Poh and a Malay bi-weekly, the Woton, had theirllcenses revoked in 1987 The press was taking sides in theircoverage of the Chlnese education issue. This issue escalatednto ethnlc tenslon and the rnedia was blamed for stirring racialprejud ce between the dominant Malay party (UMNO) andChlnese parties, the MCA and the opposition DAp. Thegovernment decided to take control thrcugh operosi Lolong inwhich poice arrested 106 citizens under Section 73 of thelnternal Securitv Act (lSA). Aso, prime Minister Mahathirexercised his powers as Home Minister under Section 8 toformal y ssue two'year ISA detention orders for 49 Malaysians,including six prominent DAP members of par lament includingKarpa Singh, Lirn cuan Eng, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw, the late p.

Patto, the late V. David, and Lau Dak Kee (Wang Lay Kim, 2001).The legislation, particularly the Printing presses and pub icationsAct of 1984 provldes vast powers to the Home Minister to grantor to wlthdraw printing icenses. This act wa5 amended in 1987and it further curbed the freedom of the Press. For exampe,Section 8 A(2) presumes the published material to be maliclouslf the \,!riter cannot prove that he or she had taken reasonablemeasures to verlfy the truth of the news, and Section 8A (1)stip!lates a jail sentence of up to thTee years, or a fine of up toRM20,000, or both, Lrpon convlction. Llnder this bil ,app ications for all prlnting and publishlng lcenses aTe madeyear y, and the Horne Affalrs Mln ster has an absolute power tosuspend or revoke a icefse or permlt, with no obligation to givea reasons. ln addition, this bil also gives power to ihegovernment to controi the tmport of foreign publications thatare percerVed aS prelLrd cla to nat onal interest, public order

Pady potitics in Soulheast Asia

and bilateral relations (Wang Lay l<im, 2OO1). Therefore, theopposition parties have to channel their alternative rnessagesthrough the internet and independent newspapers that areaccountable to the Official Secrets Act of 1972, the printingPresses and publication Act of 1984, the Sedition Act of 1948,and Maaysian Communications and Multjmedia CommissionAct of 1998. The government uses these statutes to revoke thepublication license of independent media that is determinedwithin its interpretation to be subversive or threateninB thede icate balance of racial unity. However, advanced inform;tiontechnology has mitigated this information monopoly among theBar,san members. The internet has become an informationgateway that provides alternative ways for rebuttal ofaccusations made by the government against the oppositionParties.While the national media are under BN,s control. aninte'nJfio-al (overage ,or B\ wds qu'te o.ofound. .o. instance,4s/anleek magazine in 2001 praised and acknowledged DrMahathir's leadership that had brought pride to the Malaysianpeopie for the country's achievements. Dr Mahathir wasfurther addressed by Asioweek magaztne as the manresponsible to turn the country from an almost exclusiveagricu tural econorny to one argely based on technology,industry, and knowledge (Cheah, 2002).

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)The early development of Chinese politics in Nlalaysia can becategorlzed into three groups. Loh (1982) described the firstgroup as containing members that retained strong relationswith the Peoples Republic of China. The second group havlngthe largest membership of all were solely interested in business,Chinese culture ancl traditional matters. Finally the third eroupconsisted of Chinese peop e who were born in Ma aysia, viewedNlalaysia as their home and carecl for the socio,Doliticaldevetoo-nent o, Ma avs'a. -,adrLiolal Chire5e pohl.(s be.ore1949 led to the absence of unity in representing Chinese,sissues at the national level. Although the Dewon perniogoan

iiI

II9rf.

,

k

Wolfsang Sachsenroeder (ed)

Clro (Chinese Buslness Chamber) and Dewon Perhimpunon Cind

(The Chinese Assemb y Chamber) exlsted to care for the welfare

and deve opment of the Chinese community, both chambers

were inadequate to gain political positions at the nationa level

(Means, 1991). Consequently, MCA was established on February

21, 7g4g as a political party that represented the Chinese

communitv in Malaysla (Lim, 1971). At the beginnlng, MCA

started as a we fare and lottery agency that provided assistance

to the Chinese comrnunity. MCA managed to convince UMNO

and Mlc to be part of the Barisan Naslonal government and this

coal tlon has con5istently supported each other. Over the years,

the coalition has won the most seats combined in parliament

s nce 1959 unti present.

Nevertheless, MCA experienced turbulence throughout its

evolutlon. The first internal crisis in IvICA was in 1958 when Tun

Tan Cheng Lock and Dr Lim Chong Eu objected to each other's

ideologies, !eading to a schlsm in the party Two groups of

supporters were formed, the O d Guards and the Young Turks.

The former was abellecl too soft and too tolerant with the

pollcles introduced by UMN0 that resulted in disadvantages to

the Chinese cornmunity. The Latter claimed to be sympathetic

and promoted agendas for improvlng the chlnese edr.rcational

system, emphasizing the use of the Chinese anguage in

learning, and securing the lnterests of the Chinese communlty

To ron out this dlfference, an internal party election was held

and Turr Tan Cheng Lock lost. The los5 was a result ofdlsapprovaJ among party members on educational issues

V nted in Laporon Rozak 65(On8, 1991)

" Laporan aazak was ertabLished by Tun Abdll Razak in 19s6. Tun

Razak set up an Education Conrmittee and reconrmended several

changes ln the edu.ational system. His proposal was articuLated in the

Education Ordnance of 19s7. The changes incud€d a)makins the

Malay languase a national LanBUa8e, thereby establishing a common

anglrage n schools, b)strengthening unitv among the Malays,

Chines€ and ndians; c) deve oping an educational svst€m that wi I

r€duce raciaL disparities; d) provldins adequate educationa facillties to

.re:re a socieiv ih.t l: d s.ioLlned, tra ned, liberal and progressive; and

party potitics in Southeasl Asia

The second internai crisis occurred in 1972_1973. The soerk oftne cr sis began when MCA won onlv t3 oLt of :l seats in rne1969 parliamentary election as compared to 27 seats in 1964.66Moreover, the race riot on lvlay 13,h, 1969 and the declarationof a state emergency impacted MCA tremendously, leaving theparLV hall dead due ro dectr,]ing public auoport parucular'y fro,nthe.na,o.'Ly ol Malayr (qo, 1984). T1e Ioss ano lhe decl;necreated a setback for MCA. ln addition, the enactment ofArt,cje 127 ol the pa.ly regulario'ls prolon8ed Lhe crjsis. Th;sar lrcle granred r he oarty presidelt d:sc.eLiolar/ powe. to fi.e orderounte ary merrDers o, MCA at a. pa-ry levels.,'The cyce o[ c,ises seen s to be oerlciou) i1 MCA. Anotnerparty crisis emerged in 1977 when Lee Siok yew was forced by

e)-promoting an educationat mana8ement system that wil workefficiently aid effectivety. The report was meant to reinforcecommunal harnrony and integration. See Tham Seong Chee. (1979).lssues in Malaysian Educarion: past, present and Future. /ourrol of::uth"o*

a,on St,rd,e5_vot. r0r2r. po.r21 350.)ee a reoo4 preparFd by rhe treLtion Commi.son or thepar'ram-1tar,, lDewcn R;kyarl and S-are _Fg.sldr ve Assemb.y C"nerat

ElFct.ons ot _9o9 . the Srales of M.taya Saod. aro Sard.,r'ak.Dresenf), ti^ee.F(rior sears"radivoeo arongea!, componenr p.nyn BN whe,e rhe quota of serrs i, va.ied dpperding o,l ihe situat,on.'0I a.drrole, gerrymdade.lnS .s J<.o ro o,5troite seats n aconstituency favorabty for BN. However, in 1969, the approximatequota for parliamentary seats a tocated for UMNO, MCA. MtC was60:30:10. The totat parliamentary seats in the 1969 etection were 144s-o.r5 B\ wol 9s ,.ats. wri.e rhe oooos,L,or worl 45 se"is 1r.eV05dm. dd Nor Ort,-dr & <hawa (a-tam. 2008.201," lh.5 r-b r dry L e wa- oLr -o tFsL

^hej p.rr.y oresrdenr D . L,rr Ke,lgvail a- oJn!eo his rrre,lnol ro (t^at e.gF Trr s ew Sin. VCA presrdenr

.esLltngrr hrs re..rra-ior T.Js. D L.m Keng \jik oecrded io joirparti GERA(AN. L.ter thai year, Datuk Lee San Choon became veryoopJtr among ^lemoer9 ol MCA dao tis ooput.-lry .o-cio -"1 Srews. to re(8. ". . pre.'de-t. t,onrc" v. rj1 S.Fw Si- Lsed ddete- o.dtir8 hea.rh .o"d r 01 .5 dn er. r_e ro te. Bo or hi- oos Lror dsthe MCA president.

t

Wolisang Sachsenroeder (ed)

Lee San Choon to Teslgn frorn his portfolio as the healthminister and Deputy Presldent of MCA. The reason was that Lee

san Choon sought to retajn the status quo by electing Tan Sri

Chong Hon Nyan as hls new Deputy President in MCA. However,

an internal party electlon was held to select the new Deputy

President and Chong Hon Nyan lost to Michael Ch€n. This was a

dlsappointment to the party President because both Lee San

Choon and Michae Chen were ln disagreement. However, ln

1979 ln another pa.ty presidential e ection, Michael Chen was

defeated and res gned from MCA. He laterjoined GERAKAN.

After M chae Chen left the party, NICA under Lee San Choon

continued to show factlonalism in the party. Lee San Choon's

decision to retire in 1983 shocked most MCA members and theparty later split into two factions, one headed by Neo Yee Pan

and the other led by Tan Koon Swan. The dlspute was over Tan(oon Swan, a self-made mllllonaire buslnessman who combinedpolitics and buslness interests that were opposed by Dr. Neo

Yee Pan, a (PhD) physlcs lecturer at the l.lniversity of Malaya. On

the other hand some members critlsized that Dr Neo's

dictator al eadership style was disapproved by most members.

The disputes between the two factlons escalated into several

ugly events lncluding a petltlon for an Extraordinary General

N/leeting, court orders, and a serles of law sults and injunctions

fo lowed by counter-suits and lnjunctions (Means, 1991).

Thls ugly strugg e withln MCA did not pLease UMNO's leaders at

that tlme, Tun Mahathir and Musa Hltam. IJMNO threatened toexpel MCA from the a iance if MCA falled to resolve its lnternal,ffalrs An interventlon from anotheT of UMNO's rank and fllemembers, Abdul Ghafar Baba, helped to reduce the tension He

suggested that MCA conduct an ndependent audit to examlne

the phantom membership lssue that led to fraud in vote

counting between Tan Koon Swan and Dr Neo Yee Pan and

thereby find ways to restoTe the membership of all suspended

members. consequent y, Tan Koon swan dec ared victory over

Dr Neo's faction at MCA'S regular General Assembly. Dr- Neo

reigned as President for a short tlme due to controversy over

Pady Politics in Southeasl Asia

speculated stock market actvities in lVulti purpose HoldingBerhad {NIPHB). Tan (oon Swan was arrested and charged withcrlminal breach of trust; he pleaded gu ty, was sentenced totwo years in prison and was fjned of S50O,OOO. As a convictedfelon, he was forced to resign from ivlcA. The office of MCApresident was assigned to Ling Liong Sik, who was Minister ofTra.\porI a1e. r're 1986 e'eclion (Vreans, 1991).Years after the storm of Tan (oon Swan, the party is stillstruggling with its internal affairs, particular y involvingcompeting interest and clashes of attitude among party leadersrather than ideo ogical conflicts. The zigzag progress in l\4CAoccuTTed again after the bad results of the 2008 generaleection. MCA never had expected to lose so badly in thiselection and it was exasperatin8 to al MCA members. MCAmembers claimed to have worked so hard under the leadershipof President Dr. Ong Ka Ting. persistent internal struggles withinthe party tarnished,its image to the public, especially to theChinese community that viewed MCA as unable to become thevoice of the Chinese. Of 46 seats assjgned to MCA only 15 wonseats in the parliament. Many issues Lrndermining MCA faiLed tobe addressed openly. Thus, MCA sought to resolve the issuesthrough the Barisan mechanism. For instance. an issue on thentroduction of the subject Ntalaysia Negaraku Level 1 (Nly

Country Malaysia Leve 1) with the use of the Malay language asthe teaching medium was opposed strongly by Dong Jiao Zong(a Chinese Education Management Board Organl2ation). lnaddition, Dong Jiao Zong also opposed to extra school hoursspent for teaching the Malay anguage Leve l proposed bythegovernment because thls proposal was against the objective ofChinese anguage based schoo s.

Another issue was corruption involvjng top party leaders in2010. MCA was dealing with the port Kelang Free Trade Zone(PKFZ) scandal when its top,ranked politicians were involvedwlth a company called i(ua a Dimensi Sendirian Berhad (KDSB).The dlsclosure revealed that there were lrregularities in clalmsmade by KDSB, with amounts ranging from RM5O0 million toRM1 bil ion (Emily Chow, 2009). lt was further noted that the

\volfc.ng Sachsenroeder (ed)

claims were glven to top-ran(ing pollticiant in MCA under theterm "donation." t shou d be noted that in Malaysia it is

unethical for any mrnister to accept po itlcal donations unlessthey are made pubLicly transparent. This corrupt practice hadbeen hidden frorn pub lc know edge and the widespread newswas rampant when it became public. MCA under President DrOng Tee Keat was under investlgation and this issue was usedby opposition partles to gear up their political attacks oncorruptlon in the Barisan government.Moreover, an issue on the suspension of Dr Chua Soi Le( as

Deputy President MCA due to a sex scandaL triggered publicdlstrust in the leadership of MCA. His application formembershlp renewal was rejected by party Presldent Dr OngTee Keat on a basis of a moral issue. However, Dr Chua'sconfession of his adultery granted him a huge platform forpubl c apology, as well as pardon by family and party members.Dr Chua became an MCA member again and chailenged theincumbent party president, Dr Ong Tee Keat and Ong Ka Ting(former MCA president before Ong Tee Keat) in the 2010presidentlal election for MCA. Dr Chua garnered 901votes andwas declared a w nner, His nearest challenger was Ong Ka Tingwho received 833 votes, whlle incumbent party president DrOng Tee Keat gained on y 578 votes.Notlng the interm ttent dissension between the President andVice Presldent of the party, factiona ism seems inevitable.5s

6s The MCA party constitution granted the President a lot of power,allowed the President to lead the party, provided dlrection andmot vated mernbers. As such the President must be able to unite itsmembers A rtrong leadership B crucial to MCA. lf factions occurwthin the pany, MCA wl have difflculty winnng the Chlnesecommunity. Publc perception s vita to MCA, as it has conrpellingcompetitors, such as GERAKAN and DAP. GERAKAN ls a mainlyChlfese'based paty whch ls also in aliance wth the Barlsan.However, DAP ls a sociaiin party that opens its menrbership to otherraces. Lnterestingly DAP consistr mainiy of Chinese and few otherraces. The strong centra power and hierar.hlcal ord€r feaiured inMCA portray ths party as ! structured orgafization. lnteraction

Pany Potitics in Sourhealt Asia

Presenily, a few prominent figures in MCA have establishedtheir own groups of supporters. For instance, chua soi Lek andNg Yen Yen, Ong Ka Ting and Ong Tee Keat, and Liow Tiong Lai,Wee (a Siong and Chew Mei Fun all form teams within MCA.Here, money politics may not be as important because thesefactions are competing over power, opinion, and personality ascentral membeTs of MCA that will care for the Chinesecommunity's interests. For instance, in the opinions and powerstruggles between senior and junior members, Ong Tee Keat isviewed by most members as arrogant, However, factionalismwithin the party can be pui aside when it comes to generale ections. MCA mernbers are willing to remain united despitedifferences Lrnderlying members, interactions.

Ihe Barisan mechanism refers to the po i€y that members of thecoalition may seek opinions from its allies to ov€rcome aproblem. The Barisan parties decided not to get involved but toexpress their concein over this issue, believing that MCA wouldbe able to handle its interna affairs fairly. MCA views itself aspartner to UMNO and MIC and not in any way subservient tothem. MCA emphasizes the historical contribution made byprevious MCA eaders to the independence of Malaya in 1957 aseqLra ly important to UMNO. Therefore, MCA resoects theallegiance wirh prooer cons,derariol to MCA as e partner ratnerthan a follower of UMNO or MIC. This bold statement from thecurrent MCA president deems him invaluable to MCA membersas well as to the Chinese community.From the beginning of the coa ition among UMNO, MCA andMlC, they maintain the basic principles of cooperation,partnership and administration of the new nation state.Athough the basic principes were there, obviousy genera

among party members is secretive and the party is trying hard topreserve unity among its members. The chain of command in MCA istop down and members are likety to compty with rhe centratcommittee. A cofflict between teaders normaly involves the presidentand hls deputy president.

$ olfgang Sachse.roeder (ed)

perceptions viewed MCA as an UMNO subservient. Today, theChinese community basically wants to see MCA to have morepo itical strength, so that the Chinese are able to share as equalpartners with LJMNO on a unlted team. lf there is a prob em inMCA it wi I affect UMNO, and vice versa. lf MCA is viewed assubservlent, the cooperatlon is not genuine and the Chinesecommunity wil assume that MCA is weak in voicing the feelingsof the Chinese community. [VCA members believe that if UMNOprefers MCA to delver votes to Barisan, then UMNO shou d beable to allow MCA's leaders to have their own stand on issuespertaining to securlng the Chinese interest. f UMNO llmlts thespace for MCA to present the Chlnese lnterest, then thislmitation should be removed substaniia ly because the Chlnesenow have other Chlnese-based politica parties that are bo denough to chalenge the aliance between MCA and UMNO.Although MCA members claimed that they are speakers for theChinese community and acknow edge that competing interestsexlst among a liances, the nationai interest comes first, Theformu a to uphold the country's interests and what is best forthe country seem to be the underlyjng phl osophy that bolstersthe alliance needed to maintain peace and stabil tV.

UMNO was criticized by MCA members for lts arbitrary use ofpower when an announcement on history education becomlnga compulsory subjeci in schools was announced pub icly in the2010 UMNO Annual General Meetlne wlthout properprocedure. Such a suggestion shou d have been brought to thepar lament to be discussed among ts members, then to theMinistry of Education level before the announcement wasmade. MCA members expressed that their past eaders wereamong the founding fathers that established N4alaysia as it ls

now. Over the years MCA has gone through raln and shine withthe al iances and it suggests that the concept of power sharlngneeds to be redeflned; an equal power sharing among alliancesneeds to erTrerge. PoweT Sharlng StructLlres requlre two or moregroups with dlfferent ethnic backgrounds to combine thelrefforts to jointy rue the cornmon polity and to makeconsensua decisiofs Wlthin this power structure, the coalition

pady potitics in Southealr Asra

must ensurc that no singe g-oJo cdn ma\e decisions w.thouLlhe consent ol the otners. -hJs a,l Broups have equal access topol I cal power ano resources necessary Lo gove.n the stdte.rhls colcepl Llds inrroduceo bV Areld LUpl.art 11969, 19t7,1991) and it is known as consensus or consociation democracy,MCA (onstders rhat rhe coal;r,on .s

imponanl to J diverse gtatF<e Md aVsta ard thar none coulo w:n wirho.rt t')tpgrating othe.politjcal parties that represent each community. Thus MCAarlerpls to (eep irs mage re pa.tner to UMNO and M.C asr.tacl as pos1,ble, Aiter Vea15

.n power ,n rne Baricangovernment, MCA has built a good image because MCA is theowner of the Nonyong Siong pou and Stor newspapers.A though a solid party image will always be the task of partisannewspapers, undermining conflicts in McA are never secret butare addressed only in a modest tone, Thus, these newspapersare abie to increase numbers of readers, Furthermore, a steadyincome from several powerful investment resources such as\/ult Purpose Holo rgs Berhad (MplB), Lhe A/o nyong Sl.,ng pou.nd rhe 5tol newspaoe-5, and Genti.tg Ae,nad;. j,ants VCI8'eat Inalciat secu.jy .nvesr.rents of memoe.s in seve.alprivate 'ndusrnes have bee- a p,a.tice :n MCA s.nce 197Os{l,4eans. I99-i). Possersing stronB ,ina1cia, security prov,des anJge opoo'tu.itV,o. VCA Lo manage the pa.ty.s a.rivit;es:ndcampaigns. Such income is vital for the party,s longevity. Aprofessional aLlditor is hired by MCA to crosscheck financial andtransactional activities at the central and divisional levels.Auditing is necessary to avoid money politics or dubious sourceso1s'19 t.o.n ini de the parly. TLe p.act:ceq of t,dngpa.enLy alovolJnl"ry di5cl05ure are eqcerrial fo, \,4CA,s surv va. Bes.des

6e Genting Berhad was founded by Lim Goh Tong in 1965. lt is theinvestment holding and m.nagement company of Genting croup. The.o^trarv wds incorpordteo L.de. r.e Conprnies A t 196c o1 .tO

JLty968 L 'd,, lhe o-E rat .ar e o. Genrin8 _ Chtdnd- dore, >on. Bho. Loooe,die d hote "rd.an.o. a1d to deretop an,rreg,rred rourslcomple\ 1 Gerthg F'8h,ar d(. M. .r a. -he rompary hrs e,pdndFo

to oalm or,, e e,gv,uppr/. papo. ma.JtacrLr ng. seed"rd . "r, trp.,/www ge-r., g..om/gro roorof,,e/go._rm

\vollsang Sachsenroeder (ed)

strong financial practices, MCA applles democratic processes inrecruiting members to be elected to commlttees at the division,branch, and centra eve s.

MCA has contrlbuted much to securing the Chinese interests inthe 61 years since its establishment. lt is a large party with morethan a mil on members. The size of the membership resu tedfrom a structured party feature. Each branch, division andcentra level consists of layers of committee members. As suchit would take years for a member to cLimb into a higher posltionin the party, even when most positlons in the party are assignedthrough election. Members are ob iged to obey party ru es andregulatlons, and if members fe t that they are no longer able tofol ow the eader, they are al owed to leave voluntarlly. Attitudeclashes or competing lnterests between leaders and comm tteemembers or leaders and ordinary members are somethingcommon ln a big organization like MCA. There are bad leadersand good eaders, and many have come and gone as theypleased througho!t MCA's party eadership history. But a loyalmember wil stay put no matter how bad the leader is.

N/laintaining such a posli ve attltude encourages MCA to provideparty educaton where a lot of new cadets are sent fortrain ng.70 A I new rnembers are requlred to attend this training.

'" ttowever, after the 2008 general eiection approximate v 500members eft MCA to ioii Pakatan. ln fact, younger Chinese areideaistic and they tend to be anti esiablishment, conslnent ycritlczing the present government of a sorts of wrong-doinB. Thisperc€ption among young voters has dissLraded them from jointngMCA Furthermore, the structured party feature may d sco!rageChlnese youth from loinlng MCA knowing that a young parry menrb€rwould have lo mult p y h s or her eflorts to climb to a h gher positionin the party organizaton. A member may need to be elected fromdivision to branch, from branch to state, and then from nate to thecentral comm ltee. Even at ihe central comrn ttee evel, a member hasto go throu8h al n.ges wiihin the centra election ir order to beelected. lf a member is supponed or favored by party eaders, thenthe member may skip these stag€s ro be selected from the rank and

I

it-

party potiiics in Soufieast Asia

New recruits must understand right to the core what it meansro be a mernoer of MCA. A9 a rnatrer of !act, t.atn;ng helps 1ewCddets undersrand the party,s nrJggtes. phirosophV, vaJues, andoestre 1o pur ihe natlon;t inte,err dt Ine top ol r1e pa,ty,s

19T1". "l:'d::r. rhis hisn va,ue sytte,n ensJres party Jnitywrthrn MCA. 'f rhe parry,s spl.t and members haue no cear.unde.sld'1ding o, the pa,Lv.s value cystem. then it defeats thepJ'pose o'havng MCA ds a po,:rica odrty representjng the

C hinese

Parti Islam SeMalaysia (pAS)

Parti slam SeN4alaysia (pAS)was esiablished in penang in 1951.Since its establishmen! pAS has been governed by seven,^","1:l :nl d,ve.se academrc odcksroJnds. Tuan Guru Haji

:::"i t"'9 Hassan (.1951 19s3) Dr Abb.s E,ras (.res3 r9s6i,ur 6Jha'1udd.n At-HetmV (1956-.1969). _a1 Sri Dato Hj. Asr:Muda (1969-1982). Tuan Ha,. yJsof Rawa {fSa:-tSSSt, Oito H;.Fadzil Noor (1988,2002), and Dato Serti luan Guru Hj. Abdutrldd. Awan€ (2002 unrrl presert). pAS,s po,irical agenda., tolorm al lslomic starp ba\eo on 5rnnoh, the no.y euron. and

,nhod {con)ensus amolg erpe,ts on o,sputed :s(ues). .lheseelemenrs are mednr ro orov,de justice and equality to a,ttrorgh the Jnive.sal aLceoLance of.ro.atrty and ohiiosopny,The movement of pan lslamism in the Middle fast lej byJdmduddi_ Al-Atg'tali i.tsp'red pASs ootircrl dgenda andmotive\ d.rr-g the BjiLisn i']rer!enr.o.r erd (1874,t957J. Mosrschoiars that received their academic education in the Middle

::,s.1 :1d ln9'a came oack [o Mataya w,rh rhe ,dea o. e1d ngBIlt'\h ru e by rsirg approaches Ihar ,nJo reo Malay, w,t- rreloea o' '_deoende-ce {(anarJzdnan & Moho Ljol,, 2OO9).

Theso )cLota s, ta.tpd uloma, !Jlaged Lo trr,uence most ol tlelvlalayr'a_ (o11mJ-'ry bV forn ng o,gar:zat,o.s. relig.o-5s('oo ), and commLn ry cenL.e( oased o. .dears

of a peacefL.w-ay to revolution, These organl2ations, schools, and communitycentres combined their resources and efforts to fafin lkhwanMuslimin, an organization located in Gunung Seman8gol in the

wolfgans sachsenroeder (ed)

federal staie of Perak. Thelr leaders lnclude Abu Bakar Bakir,Rash d Maidin, Abdu ah Sidi, and Shamslah Fakeh who werelater label ed as commLrnlst members. During this era, the anti-communlst movement was essential to the British and theirefforts to regain and sustain po$rer throughout lts colonies,Knowing that lkhwon Muslinin was comprised af many ulomothat promoted the ldea of lndependence and who were willingto collaborate wlth the communist party in the early 1950s, thusthe British disbanded lkhwon Muslimin_ As a tesu t, numbeas ofPAS eaders cum lkhwon Muslimin members were arrested anddetained. PAS was foTced to regroup its members and severalvocal eaders were championed, includlng Zulkifli Mohamad andDr Abbas A ias ((amaruzaman & Mohd Fadti, 2009).

Since its establishment in 1951, PAS has always been seen as anls amist party aiming to establish an slamic state. However,PAS'S politica strategles have been flexibe in an atternpt togaln support from the people. During its struggle forlndependence, PAS spoke out on issues of Malaysian poverty,ack of health care, stigmatization of peasants, and in mostareas against tin rnines and rubber plantations owned bV theBritlsh and other non-Maiays. Thus PAS's strategy to strengthenN4a aysian nationa lsm and sentiments paid off. pAS has beenable to continuoLtsly revamp and rejuvenate its strategy,conformlng to the contemporary needs of the commu11ity andthereby gaining a strong politica advantage (Kamaruzaman &Mohd Fad i,2009)

Most peop e who join PAS are individuals that believe lslamprovides ways to protect the state's rnost impoverished andrepressed cltlzens. Most active members are willing to sacrificemoney, time and energy to fight together with PAS leaders inorder to strengthen the party. Dating back through severalgeneral elections, PAS has been marginallzed in the federalpariament. Motivaton to loin PAS may not derive frommaterial ownershlp or sociai status, but it secures anindividua's positlon in the Ma aV ritualistic and cu tLlra

Party polilics tn SoutheastAsia

activities, For instance, ceremonial events such as marriage,divorce, or memorial rituals require someone with fullknowledge of slam to perforrr these events. These rituals arestrongly preserved by ustoz cum u/o/ro (reiigious elite) in thesociety, particularly in the Northern and Eastern states of perlis,(edah, (elantan and Terengganu. Along with possessing theskills and knowledge to perform these ritua s, they also act asreferees for any disputes in marriage and divorce situations.Most of them are ikely to be pAS members or citizens thatsupport PAS'S political objectives even if they are not registeredmembers,Recent trends show that individuals are motivated to be pASmembers for many reasons. First, citizens or supporters aresympathetic with the party,s objectives. Second y, citizens arefrustrated with how the government is handling the Anwarlbrahim case, particularly his bruised eye whlle under policecustody. After this incident, pAS recorded that there were morethan 10,000 applicatjons from citizens to become registeredPAS members. Thirdly, citizens view pAS as a place of safehaven from the injustices committed throLrgh the lnternalSecurity Act (lSA). This positive response from citizens marks anew beginning where pAS no lon8er belongs to the religiouseite of ulomo or rstoz, Members now come from a variety ofprofessions such as englneers, scientists, academicians,physicians, administrators, teachers, and clergy. The increasednumber of members in pAS creates many advantages previouslyunachieved, such as gaining moTe votes in general elections,raising more funds, expanding power and inf uence, andstrengthening the party's strlrcture in order to achieve supportfor forming an lslamic state. HoweveT, support for pAS is comingfrom the Maay population and the ldea of an lsamic statecreates a vlsible wallfor non-Musllms to become members,PAS admits that the Chinese are sensitive to pAS because theChinese have been incu cated with information and knowledgefrom the national media that lslam is funclamenta ist. ln orderto change this perception, pAS provides smal community talksto reach non'Muslims, approaching them with a willingness to

\\'ol lsl)ns Sachsenroedcr (ed)

answer qLrestions re8arding lslam and politics. This approachhelps to alleviate misunderstandings and to convince manyChinese voters in (elantan, Kedah and Terengganu to acceptPAS candidates as their representatives at the state andparl amentary level. However, this support and persuasionphenomenon is not consistent throughout the three states,Nevertheless, PAS has managed to rend a new message topeople that lslam is considerate of everyone and the universalimperative forjLlstice and equallty is preserved within its laws.PAS's motives are facilitated by consensus and coalitionestablished among PAS, OAP and PKR, the Pakatan Rakyat. Theconsociation model has been lmplemented by the Barlsangovernment since independence and has worked well in a

communa country ike Malaysia. The ssue is the strength anddurability of the alliance amonB these three political parties. Onone hand, DAP has been vocal in addressing the Chineseinterests, rncluding challenginB the Malay privilege. PKR, a

multiracial party, is promoting the idea of equal Malaysia to allcit zens. At the other end of the spectrum, PAS views preservingthe Malay privilege as still mandatory. These competinginterests and different objectives lead to a series of renewedallegiances amonB them. They try hard to always insure that thenterest of the country supersedes each party's special interest,lroning out their differences by focusing on common groundheips to bolgter the coalition.Additiona y, all three parties co laborate to compete wlth theBarisan government in general elections, as they mutuallydespise the Bari5an government. The Barisan government is

viewed as one that is corrupt and must be replaced through a

democratlc venue Realiz ng that they cannot wln ln the general

election wlthout the others, a1l three combine their advantagesby analysing popu ation densities before deciding on who fromwhich partv will be a runninB candidate for that area. This

strategy seems to work well despite conflicting opinlons on whowi be plrt forward as a running candidate (The Star, 2008).However, the alliance that rhey have is not invincible; differentgoals can potentially break the allance. Victory may resu t from

Party Politics in SoutheastAsia

short term agreements, but in the lon8 run it remains to beseen if the alliance will last (Nadirah,2009).

Although PAS has more registered members than before, it is

common for PAS to dismiss members as a result of a disciplinaryissue. PAS'5 disciplinary unit consists of 7-8 senior committeemembers that will investigate and review any complaint filed byPAS members. There are three forms of disciplinary resolution:advice or warning, dismissal, and suspension. ln 1982, AsriMuda was teaminated from the party for criticising the party'sPresident durang a PAS assembly. Asri and his supporters rallieda demonstration that led to a few more members beingsuspended from the party. Most recently (2010) other PAS high-ranking members such as Khalid Samad and Hasan Aliwere alsosubject to disciplinary sanctions. The former was suspended forsix months as a member and centrai polit:cal committeemember. The latter was given a written warning in January,2010. Both appealed within 30 days for a review of their cases.

Both were found guilty under Clause No. 75 of ihe CentralConstitution of PAS that not only involves suspension ofmembership but also forbids each to give any verbal or writtenstatement following the suspension (Horokohdoir, 2010).ln 2003 PAS interna party election had endorsed Abdul HadiAwang as the party president uncontested followinB the deathof Fadzil Noor in 2002. PAS had been known as the ulama partyin the 1960s until a recent election shows a new lineup ofleaders that is non-ulama. The process to select the next leadersis done by the rank and file and those who have the respectfrom party members. The candidates with knowledge and withwith charisma will stand a better chance to be elected(Zubaidah, 2011). The party constitution does not specifv thatonly an ulama or profesional can be president. 1n a recent PAS

iniernal election or its 57ih Muktamar, the new line up ofleaders shows a mixed combination of ulama and non ulama,Abdui HadiAwang remains the president, whiLe Mohamad Sabualso known as Mat Sabu (an activist) is now the new deputypresident, and three other vice presidents also are non-!lama

wol lganS Sachsenroeder (ed)

inciuding Mahfuz Omar (re,elected), Husam Musa, andSalahuddin Ayub. PAS spiritual adviser, Nik Aziz Nik Mat viewsthat this new combination is good for pAS if it wanted to be anatlona and malnstream party. ln fact, pAS is sending a clearrnessage that it has no probems with a non-ulama and acontroversia person like Mat Sabu ho din8 a top party position(Shuhada Elis {a), 2011). Mat Sabu managed to unseat threeterm depLrty president Nasharuddin Mat sa (u ama), and alsoproved that he was the delegatey favourite oveT former vlce-president Tuan lbrahim Tuan Man (u ama). Mat Sabu won witha narrow 21 vote majority with Tuan tbrahim trai ing at 399votes and Nasharuddin Setting on y 224 votes (shuhada Elis (b),2011).A though there was grouses among a few pAS members thatdeemed Mat Sabu not a presidentia material to succeed AbdulHadl Au/ang in the near future, Mat Sabu's strength and loyaltyto PAS desplte be ng detained twic€ under the ISA had endorsedhim a great support from Nik Aziz and rnost party members. tnfact, Mat Sabu's wife, Normah Awi was the founder anddirector of Nisa Wal Bannat, a welfare group under the[\4uslimat wings ]ntroduced in 1992 (Shuhada Elis (b), 2011).Such influence has helped Mat Sabu to be wel known amonggrassroots members in PAs,

Mat Sabu's v ctory was based on a fair election by the membersof PAs. Therefore, Abdul Hadi Awang emphasizes that there willbe no dvison in PAS between the ErdoganTl and Ulamafactons. On the contrary, there is a clear indlcation that theErdogan group ls agalnst the idea of unity tal(s with UMNOwhereas the conservat ve ulama are open to ideas of a linkupwith IJMNO Thus, the cornbination of u ama and non Lrlama

'r The term Erdosan is used by rnanv PAS members as a labet as toformer UMNO and non UMNO members who lo ned pAS after thesackins of Anwar brahim in 1998. The Erdogan group tn pAS s astrong supporter of Anwar lbrahim and it is also viewed as liberallslamist as Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkhh Prime Minister known asstandins for a libera idea of an ls amlc state.

Pafy Potirics in SourheastAsia

could create a tension within pAS. However, pAS ls confidentthat their system of syura and musyawarah provide equalopportunities for ulama to get involved in the party acUvitiesand decision making. pAs is now focused on welfare state issuesas a way to find common goals within the pakatan Rakyat pact.Abdul Hadi Awang is supposed to secure victory in the 13thgeneral election and treat the succession issue as a matter ofinternal arrangement. The new lineup of leaders in pAS is astrategic p an to make the party appear moderate ahead of thenext general election,

PAS embraces dlscipline, thiqoh or honesty and accountability,wolo or loyalty to leaders in its eadership organization. Theseelernents have been the key factors in ensuring the consistentrise in membership in pAS. This populist approach is popularamong party leaders and they actively organise training orworkshops for youths. Although training and workshops aredependent on the party budget, what is actually needed isvoluntarily commitment from younger generations toparticipate in the party's activities. pAS depends on financialcontributions made by members and non-members whoattended PAS'S public political speeches as wel as symbolicmembership fees of RM3.OO (an approximate of 1 USD a year. lnother words, PAS'S money comes from the members, ownpockets. Some altruists that support pAS also come forwarddonating bLrllding materta s, money, and other forms of helpaccording to the needs and these contributions have helped pAS

to survive, Financia security is imited because pAS is notinvolved in business corporations that could generate funds forthe party. By contrast the Barisan government has been anactive bLrsiness member of mega business corporations such asRenong, MLrltipurpose, Genting Berhad, paremba, MaikaHo dlngs and many others that provide strong financial supportsto the Earisan government (Jamaie,2OO5). Thus, pAS has toprioritlse its strategy to reach voters. A combination oftraditiona and modern ways is utillzed. Traditiona strategiessuch as band wagoning, doorto door explanation, public

r,voilgang Sachsenroeder (ed)

speeches, workshop, and media are effectlve. PAS a so has theHarokahdaily, a printed newspaper and onllne webslte that canchannel or vorce its poitcal agenda to peope. pAS has annformation unit that plays an important roe in informingpeop e through public ta ks and small workshops. Commltteesin this unit are commltted to their tasks and they work day andnlght to update information for the people. A live televiseddebate for polltical parties has never been successful in thiscLrlture; for this reason p u blic ta ks and small workshops are stilimportant Moreover, the lnternal SecurltyAct (tSA) and OfflciaSecrets Act (OSA) are used by the government to forbidinformation defined as racist or subversive from bejngdistributed lo people on a bas s that it wi I disrupt racial unity.This arbltrary use of security and safety creates continuousobstacles to PAS in dissemlnating information throu8hteLevsion, radlo, and printed newspapers. Harokohdaily lasbeen banned a few times since its establishment. ln fact, itslicense renewal for printing has been withhe d or delayedseveral Umes as a result of resistance from the Barisangovernment. Neverthe ess, the advances of informationtechno ogy have he ped PAS to channel lts voice andindependenl opinons via internet blogs, facebook, oninenewspapers, emai s, and instant messages or 5MS,General y PAS's image on national media is most y tarnishedwlth negatlvity. Durlng a recent state electton in Galas, Ke antanbetween PAS and UMNO, media networks highlighted thepeople's lmage of UMNO whle being negatlve on PAS. Themedla abeLled Nik Azlz, PAs's splritual eader as giving awaycash to people as br bery when actualy he was giving alms tomual af (peop e newiy converted to s am) to ease thelr burdenin learning and cornmitting themse ves to ls am, Almsdistribution can be done anytime and anywhere to the entitledrecipients but lltusan Malaysla, a partisan media to UMNO, forinstance ma(es it seem ke Nik Aziz is giving bribes. However,when UNINO leaders were givlng rlce, stove hampers, cash,transport rnoney for voters, and made announcements forproject deve opment in Galas, the national media were very

par.y potirics in SourheasrAsia

supportive and portrayed the BN efforts as charity to people(Malaysiakjni, 4 November 2010).PAS'S insufficient financjal security limits its capability to eirgagern any money po itics, nepotism, vote buying or candidatesnatching. With its heavy emphasis on an lslamic view of Iife,questions remain on its capacity to secure votes among non,Muslims, except perhaps Chinese .and lndian Muslims thatsupport the idea of an lslamc state. Many pAS leaders havebeen vocal in addressing issues of poverty and nation building,promoting the Malay language as the natjonal language, andlimiting licenses for businesses identified with socjal crime an.tJrhea r1y l,ves,, noL regulated, sJch aq Sambling. selling hquorand massage parlours (Salmah, 2Ot0).Although financial security ts limited and money politics is neveran is\Je, fact,o.lal's,r w11'n pAS is dppare.rr. la(r;ondl,sm ;nPAS o(cLrs on t.e basic or d.refl1g perspecttves. Tnere are ifew factions in PAS. Nik Aziz and the old guards eschew the ideaof a united government with UIVINO, while Nasarudin Md Isa.Hasan Atr. Taib Azan uddin are tl^e young .rembers that supportthe idea of a united government and forming an alliance withUMNO. On the other hand, Hadi Awang (Mp Marang,Terengganu), a peer of Nik Aziz, has a different opinion o-nunited government. Nik Aziz and Hadi Awang were indisagreement in 2009 related to this issue and Mursvidul AmPa5 was unab'e to resolve t. Jvlembers on tne sidF tnes viewedMursyidulAm pAS as weak and acking the will to declde on the'ssu. of d ul.ted governTent. AlthOJgh -iaoi Awang.tas neverbeen cledr on h 9 decr<io1 wnet ter or not to sLpport ltse u'1itedgovernment, most members in pAS believe he supports theidea. Subtle factions also exist in pAS including Wahabj, shiite,and Sunnah Wal Jamaahi however these groups are never inconfiict on the principles and pillars of lslamic beiief andpractice. Even though factionalism exists, it ts only a matter ofdiffe,enL op n ons among these B-oLrps, pdrt:cr."rly on the issJeor a untted gove.n.nelt. At tre end oi the day, the centra,committees and members of pAS reunite to promote an lslami.state,

\\'olicanc Ssdrsenroeder (ed)

Slnce many PAS leaders received their higher education in theMidde East, nda, Pa(istan and lhe Northern part of Africa,the r international netwoT(s aTe centred in these countries, Toname a few, PAS has good relationships with internaiionaorganizations suc6 as lkhwonul Muslimin, Hizbollah, Jdmiyahtslamiyoh ard politica eaders in these countries.T'? PAS

maintains its image as an lslamist po ltlcal party that focuses itsradar on any developments in islam around the wodd.

Democratic Action Party (DAP)

The DAP or Democratic Action Party was founded on March 18,1966 shortly after Singapore was dec ared lndependent fromMalaysia in 1965 DAP has a strong democratlc socia istorientatlon Upholding thls ldeoogy, DAP promotes equalityand s against the segregation of BLrmlputera and non-Burn putera Usngltssvmbo of the ROCKET, DAP has contestedin 10 genera elections from 1969 to 2008. DAP ls the hardcorevanguard of the non-Malays who have skirted sensiUve issues toprotect what it deems as social equallty, DAP concentrates on

its tenac oLrs pursuit of revealing government mismanagementand officia corrupton. Furthermo.e, DAP is perslstent andstr dent in its criticism over issues such as government-fundedpubllc corporations failing to meet their objectives or thegovernment loslng money over dubious circumstances (Means,

1991: 181) DAP was able to mobi ize substantlai non-Ma ay

support in 1982 when it won 9 parliamentary seatsr 6 fromPeninsular N/lalaysia and 3 from the Borneo states (sabah and

Sarawak) (Means,1991)ln the 2004 general electlon, DAP won 12 parliamentary seats

': PAs mem5ers admitt€d that it has no further connection to thesegroups other than . mere lvlus im brotherhood. ln fact, Kua a Lumpurreflses 10 accept the nk belween terrorlsm and slam and viewstransnat onal terrorism as the product of Wenern mlsd€€ds againstthe goba Musllm commun ty, see details Acharya A., and Abifd:Acharya 2007 The MVth of the Second Front: Localiz ng the War on

Terror in southeast As a. fhe Wdshinston Quarterly. Vol. 30(41: pp.75-

90

pady polilics in Sourheast Asia

:;^1\l,r _,:"0:r, L,m Kit s,d1s reptaced pdrtr ,stam seMataysia

lii:l ,r., ,T oppos:r'on rep.eselrative in partiam;nt.(ons,sle.lty, DAp,s sound perforra,rcerr tne general electionot 2008 proveo thal DAp is o te o. rhe l:rgest opposrr.on partiesfor non-Malays, sjmilar to pAS for the Malays. ln the 2OOgelection, DAP won 28 parliamentary seats and 73 state seats.DAD sweot drl z oarliamentary seats a1d 19 sLate seat>.or lhe>rano rtate of pe.ralg (,vh:(h has a Chjnese major;ry

?:lj]rl:,),.torminB ,rs srare sove,lnenr {Urusan ont ne,luuar. thus. DAp is viewed ds a forn;daote oppone.rt ofthe BNfor its Chinese-based parties such as MCA and cERAKAN.As democratic socialists, DAp desires a social order whereinthere can be free development of the human personality withinthe,community, just distribution of national wealth, job equaljtyand-toc,d.,,ust:ce for arl .acer. tts comm,rmelt to the srruggleror a l.ee denocrat c aoc,aLsr Ma,dys an Ma,ays a, oased onihep.rnctoles,ol huma. ri8nr\, equdliy, social "nd economtc justice,

::1-':,r*:q:" ,"" ":Litu!;ol of partra-ne.lrarv oemocracy, has

l:y:.ded ?Ap wrrl':ubsrantiaJ supoorr rrom art .aces regard,ess

or,the I values a4d oeliefs, DAp states that i19 inte.pretat;on ofachieving equality does not mean uniformity and levelling out; itopposes any form of exploitation and it stands against thel:"lr"j:s : oerso-is conko,,ins eco.romic a.rd po,;r,ca, power.A5 a rnem0er o. Soc'alist rnLernarional {S,) DAp proc.aims irs:I-19i,: "]

a dpmo(rar c soc at,,Ilc corrrry a10 suppo-ts rhp)oLra tst tnierndroral in the wo.,d.w,de tight fo, rne cause, of::T:n tv and socid derroc,.(y (L:m \,r srang. 1982).

Yii^] ) "1!o by norr peopre as a cnauvin.sr Clrnese oarty andrr r' es lo (5a-ge ir\ ira8e by engdg.ng w.LL peop,e .n the _.ban

"::__-l-: "*:r DAp atrempts ro .nd(e its ,mage -no.e

^rte8'ate"d w rh nc'ea(eo od.tr(iodt'on f,o.n lndian, and,rd?y5, As i- oooosition oartv to B\. DAp nds fewe. recoJ.ces

rFrs. B\ controls most dva,,ab,e -rled.a tnruaray),a the.ero.e DAD Temoers c:re tha! BN na) oone an

:]];..:lj:o or co"rarn;ns DAp 10 urba.l areas ond curoilB jt,rrrrJence t.om soreaoing to,ura,areag whe.e the majorii oiMalays are residing. DAp,s 2008 victory to form a state

$ ollea s Sachsenroeder (ed)

government in Penang provides an opening for DAP to utilizestate sponsored venues to reach people, particularly the Malays

and lndians in rura areas. DAP uses this forum to lnform as

many people as possibe about its new lmage as well as itsideology that advocates socia equaliiy for al .

The numbers of registered members may not be substantlalwhen compared to MCA or UMNO, but DAP has voters thatsupport it without needing individua s to slgn up officialy as

party members. The shocking result of the 2008 SeneraLelection confirmed thls statement when DAP won 28 seats inthe parLiament. DAP has been at the forefront in addressing thelssues of corruption and equality, therefore it attracts young

volers to join it cause. Due to its Limited number of reSistered

members, DAP has experienced difflculty in selecting candidates

to run n genera e ections. Members sacrifice their permanent

lobs, careers, money, and energy once they are willing to be

candidates running in the general election. Most DAP memberscome fTom diverse educatlonal backgrounds and they are aware

of such sacrlfice. The victory in the 2008 general elections gave

a tremendous re\!ard to DAP, when increased numbers of new

members were added to each of DAP'5 branches located in all

states in Ma aVsla,

ln the past, most DAP members were volunteers who held

permanent jobs in private sectors and they assisted the party

when thev were available. Afier DAP established a state

government in Penang in 2008, most DAP members who wonparl amentary seats began working full tlme in the house ofrepresentative5 as wel as ln 5tate government positions (chlefs

and minlsters). DAP has fewer members than UMNO and MCA,

thus each branch ls able to directly control lts members. An

e ection system ls app led to select members in the central

cornmittee, DAP adopts a proportional system, where a total of

50 members at the branch level wlll be cornpeting amo.gthemseLves to acquire po5itions at the centraL leveL- A second-

round race wll elect 20 out of 50 peop e to be e ected lnto the

central committee, Due to a direct proportlonal electlon system

wlthin the party, DAP s ab e to avoid confllcts among members

parry poiirjcs in Souiheasr Asia

ln addition, young party mernbers have a great opportunity tobe telected as .un1'ng candidates n gere.dl eleLtions.-,h'ougiour DAp h,story. the oarty ha, gone lhrough many

strJggles and has losr in seve.al gene.at eleLtions. DAp rosloaory n tte general eteft:o1 of 1990 and had ontv gained ZO(eats i

,1 lhe parliament. Simi.arly in tne j995 generat elecrion

UAP ontV m.naged ro win 9 eeats (Azman, 2OO8: 46). Candtdategwho lost ;n thal e'ec1ro1 also

.o(r rlei. advanced depo(its rF thepercentage of votes received was less than 1/g of all votes

coLrnted, for instance for a state seat a candidate must payRM5,000 and for a parliameirt seat RM1O,OOO. tf a candid;telost but-managed to secure 1/g of all votes, he or she must file arefund'rom 5PR w thin a year afrer r1e ge.e,ar elecr,on resu,t .s

lnlounced {SPR, 2007). Addiflonally..or those who res,gneorrom p Vale secto-s and for rhose who wrlhnejd their bus;essacrvitie\ for

_the sdke of lhe parry. tneir spir.rs were seve,e,y

dampe-ed. Du inB rhese hardship5. members. oyalty wastested and those who were able to remain as members untiltoday €re the best among members. This shared experiencecould be another essential factor that helps DAp to promoteciose interactions among mernbers at the branch and centaal

l'l terms ofelecrora .elorm wt,hin tne party, DAp,s (he parryleost commirted to relorm.,n other wo.ds, Dnl r< <eeprrgntacl I re c-a tLral comTittee as tl^e g.oup respo-sto.e for nosror DAps decisions a.d .r ,s Jnl kFy lo rnvovo o,o.ndry

'r For instance, Mr. Anihony Loke became a state chairman at age 27,

::_1-l:" *,. rMp peLdtnB raya Jrdrar dnd nar"ar eorr lsr"reto. SJbdrg Jdl,d) drF Lwo junro. mF. bers rhdL Letp rorejuvenale rle p. .y. B r g,n8 .re\^ o,ood rnro rhe prrry -ears DAp iso,ogre,:ing ro6dros qL.ergrnen.ag rhe odrrv.s.rrtdence roa cit rens.raL'rg d <.ndrl rumbe, of membe.s :tows DAp to a11oL.ce tnEr/oLng tolenrFd oo, rr.ian( wIt hdv€ n ore oopo. rLr r/ r1a1 ihey woLtdn d1 o de. . o e F(rob'rsred priL/ wirh -. ,ons ot memoel ar o (Lrh

:'^*l,l:1 ,".Ii ,radr

...e. mav tm r vouns pot:rk.rn. r,om hoto,.lsFosrtrons as rnenrbers of p.nianrent.

I

I

\\'o1fg.n-q Sachsenroeder (€d)

members. ln fact the former partY leader, Lim Kit Siang' is a

hardcore socialist and works to retain that imaS€ His successor'

Lim Guan Eng, the son of Lim Kit Siang, is viewed by DAP

members as a- great leader that is willing to open his mind to

many new ideas that may be more progressive than the

hard;ore socialists By havinB a few trusted central committee

membe.s in most decislon making positions without engaging

ordinary members as well as retaining the socialist democratic

lma8e, DAP wi I likely remaln unchanged'

Con;istent with DAP's political agenda that fights corruption'

the party's flnancial manageTnent requires each branch and

cent;al committee to declare its financial report to members

since 2008, DAP has he d an open day for media to come lnto its

party meetings and review its accounts that are open to the

public. oAP h;s a small fund raising contingent called (operosi

Tindokon Demokrasi (Democratic Action Fund) that was

estabiished in the 1980s to help the party raise money for

campalgns and to hold party activities for community events

attended by elite members of the societY (businessmen'

politicians, entrepreneurs, etc ) DAP occaslonally selLs dinner

tables for public talks and organizes walkathons to engage with

the public whi e tlmultaneouslY raislng funds' DAP has no

business dealings or corporate networks supporting its finances'

bLrt strong voiuntarY participation provides DAP adequate

|."rour.", io survlve as a party. Having corporate networks is

good for partY sustenance but DAP is taking a precautionary

i ap not,o depend on too many corporate figures within the

,"", *, ,a, create conflicts of interest for achieving social

equalltyFurthermore, the synergY embedded in the coalition of Pakatan

provides DAP much opportunity to expand its party agenda and

io cooperate with PAS and PKR in reaching Malays in both

urban and rural areas DAP n€eds this coalition of Pakatan to

stry ,trong in order for DAP to reach these so far unreachable

auilencesJ pls and PKR are reliable alliances that help DAP to

iuLti its ofiectlve. Regardless of their competing interests and

disagree..nts on lssues related to religion, DAP and two other

Pany Politics in Soulheasl Asia

Pakatan alliances are ready to lron out their differences in orderto flght BN in the general election, their common goal.

Although DAP has long been established as a party, its realpower to engaSe and deliver services to people can be countedin a few recent years after the victory in the 2008 generalelection. Governing for only a short period of time wlth access

to state resources may prevent DAP from negative politicalpractices that are likely to evo ve in older parties such as the BN

who have been in power for more than fifty years. One reasonfor a caveat may be former DAP president Lim Kit siang, fatherto his only son Lim Guan Eng who is now the chief minister in

Penang. Both 0AP members are a rare father and son team thatmay not yet be considered a dynasty within the party. They aresupportinS each other in car.ying out the DAP political agendaof a socialist democratic party and Lim Guan Eng has all thereason to continue his father's legacy. Eoth shared theexperience of beingdetained under the lnternal Security Act of1960. Labelling this duo as a dynasty within the party may bepremature, as a dynasty constitutes a powerful group or familythat maintains its position for considerable time. To date, DAP

?KR lPorti Keddildn Rorryot or People'sJustice Parly)PKR is a political party forrned in April 1999 as a result of thereformation movement. Organized by the masses and a loosecoalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), PKR andother reformation movements ignited after the removal ofAnwar lbrahim on sodomy accusations as a deputy primeminister of the Barisan government. His captivatinB personalityhad iremendous influence on the Malaysian public. Anwar'tarrest, charging, and assault were viewed by the public as a

symbol of an unjust system. For this reason Parti KeadilanNasiona chose the watd Keadilon, or justice, for its party'sname. PKR turned the spirit of the street into a real andorganized political party that won the confidence of the people.ln recent history, many street movements have changed orthreatened an authoritarian gov€rnmentr lndonesia, Taiwan,

\\ ollsds Sachsenroeder (ed)

and Thal a nd. The uprising geared the social movements againstissues such as corruptlon, unlust systems, discrimination, andinequallty of ethnic groups (Nidzam, 2006

PKR's ideology is concentrated on fighting for lustice. Since thebuilding block of PKR is people from dlverse backgrounds and asthe party is at a young age, its culture is still evo ving. Memberswho joined the party were former members of the Barisangovernment, members of NGOs that champloned hLtman rightsissues, academicians, and professionals. Many of thern broughtwith them their values of populist particlpation and crlticalanalysis. The growing cultLrre of democratic partlclpation in theparty aliows members to elect their division and nationalleaders. This positive practice of PKR differs from the Barisangovernment that is strongy hierarchical, one in which itsleaders are not to be cha lenged. However, a new developmenton PKR's interna election shows disappointment from numbersof party members who accused that the electlon was

71 Zaid Lbrahim is a former minister ln the Prime M nister'sdepartm€nt, has pulled out of the contest for the deputy president ofParti Keadilan Rakyat compet ng against Mohamed Azrnin A l. Anothercand date has given the party two days to fix the alleged irregularlties.Za d triillng Azmln with 3,410 to 4,378 votes in the e ectlon for thepost decided to step down from a PKR pons includinC that of Federa

Terrltories Chlef and a po itical bureau member. Zaid further explainsihal during the course of the party election, leaders of PKR activelycondoned ma practlces and electora fraud to achieve therdesignedobjectiv€ (Alang B€ndahara, Shuhada, Mas inda & Yiswaree, 2010).This turbulence inside PKR may damage lts party reputatlon and theimpact will bc calcu ated ln the next general election. Zaid lbrahirn leftPKR ln November, 2010. Prevlous y his membershlp was terminated byUMNO d!€ to the fact that Zald attefded a PKR assembly. Hop ng tochannel hr po tica enthusiasm n PKR, Zaid was unable to convincemany PKR members. (.llmadeShah Othman, Maiaysiakini,2008. Less

than 2 months after he left PKR, Zaid brahim formed KITA (Portl

pal1y politics in Sourheast Asia

The,multiracial philosophy in pKR cohtributes to minimal

:ii?:,t "t hardcore Matays lo.n;n€ the pa.ty. p(q promotesequarrry among all ra( es, which is v,ewed as a main weapon ,6.beating UMNO as for getting support from all voters. p(R hasyet to clarify the meaning of afflrmative action to theEumipLrtera. The attempt to create a multiracial party datedba(k to Daro Onn :n I9S4 whpn he jntrodJced porli Negorc(Nationa' p:.tV) whi.h wol one seat ir tne 1959 gerera,election, However, Dato Onn failed to convince the new

;1{11e,r^o-1t vatavs:e ro tsc(epr sucn an .nvertive

p.oposirron

^l-,]i- r_r-1u_,:rr.

"f ," *as st;fl d pure ag.drian srate with strongern.lr-ci \enLtrnentj h:ving a mu,rirac.a, po.i,Ca, party was toJI dor( ar as a concep- for the -nagqes at that r:.ne,The c'lrre-r rnol,vation ,or peop,e to jorn p(R depends on rhel::,-",-T:r." of rne Bar,san gove,nnenr. tro'licalty, around2010-2011 mosr people seemed to oopose rne Bar;san eiites

:,:":-tn1". be'ieve that phR rs tne .ignr altern:r,ve. ea.ifmembers joined Dhq berause of .desl.sm. want.nB ro fignt lorjustice.. and good governance. However, this motivatjongradually changed when pKR won several parliamentary seatsscattered in Sejangor, penang, Kedah, and perak in 2OOg. people

are now foreseeing another mot,vation _ a possible personalbenefit and social status mobility in society to join pKR.

PKR organizes fund raising events and recejves donations fromthe people to sustain its existence and activities. Altholrgh ayearlv eport lhat deratls ,., acaountilg pract,ces (o-rd oeunoer oue5trcn, noney is to!,,i1g .nto rne parry ,ro.n rhegrds5.oots tever, .he -easol is unde. qLerL:on oeLa-re a wrrtten.eoort detdi,rng rhe frnan(ia activ,ties js never shareo witnmembers. Donatjons come from jndjviduals and private

f.spjahLema. tn<on Io.oh ard d,ro k.oI(r as peoo e,9 We,fare pa.ty

::^:::^J:.,-y .)r. .ra1 . nTA s rr.s<ro- wa. io 8,ve ba(k ,n,ty .o ,r.o'op'e. vow -g to sta ,d agdra,t j.t rvpes o. _uo;noriry and . ege^ on),.lew.r.air . m".. 201i. lad,ouh.hes KITA. t9,.. uarv 201i

i1

t

\\'olfcang Sachseriroeder (ed)

organizations, and fund raising events include selllng dinner

tables for political talk5. As a new political opposition party, PKR

experiences financia problems, therefore fund raising is a

difficult task. However, PKR survives financially bY coordinating

its activities wlth a strict budget and avoiding redundancy. For

running in a state or parliamentary election, the candidate must

bear the brunt of the cost. The centra Pl(R committees assist by

providing tome basic support such as poster printing, banners,

and party flags. After Pakatan won many more seats in the 2008

election, PKR enjoyed some financial relief. Now programt for

soc etv can be managed reLatlvely easy usinS state and federaL

grants as well as special grants of Chief Minister or state

Evldence of P(R's plogressive management can be seen in the

way the partv selects candidates for general election An

interna e ection among members can be vlewed as fair because

P(R N open and less structured. Newcomers are Siven an

opportunitv to become candjdates in divisional electlons or

even general elections. lnteractions amonS psrty members are

rather open and friendLy because most members that

established PKR are those who struggled together for the sake

of the party. Some party members have even been in jail and

thls experience breaks the protocol of feudalism that has been

embedded in the Malaysian society for ages. Members are

unlikely to condone a heavy_handed rule after experiencing

openness. Not legally binding members to the party has paid

off Unfortunately, a shortage of skil ed and capable individuals

in the party led to internal conflict after the 2008 general

election. Not expecting to capture manY seats, the nomination

of members in the partv to be the running candidates in the

election of 2OO8 was somewhat oose and careless Many

candidates were selected at the last minute' The lack of a

selection mechan sm ed to several issues incLuding

representatives withdrawing from the party and declaring

themselves as lndependent candidates or jumping into the

party potitics in Southean Asia

Barisan government.TsThe party needs some control mechanism that will limitcandidates who win in the election under the party banner fromjumping to another party. During the stron8 mass movemen!some candidates were using pKR as a platform to becomemembers of parliament based on tremendous support from thepeople. Running as a candidate under the pKR party bannerindicated that chances of winning the election were high,particularly in the state of penang. Another issue was the lack ofleadership qualities amonS newly-elected representatives suchas Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal), Datuk Sri Zaharin Mohame.lHashim (Bayan Earu), Mohsin Faduli Samsuri (Bagan Serai),Zrlkif: Nordr,1 (Bandar BarJ, Kul,m). Once elected, many otthem disclosed the party,s interna,affairs through p!blic mediaand damaged the party,s image (G. Manimaran, 2O1O).Dissension between party members and leaders,n 2O1O led to acommunication breakdown, resulting in a few more membersleavin8 PKR. With the party,s cohesiveness in question, pKRstrategized ways to resolve this issue_ Although a selectionmechanism was needed, there was no guatantee that acandidate possessed all of the qualities needed to be a goodrepresentative. Educat,on may be the mark of a goodacademician, but not necessarily of a good politician. Thereforea selection mechanism may require pKR to balance talent,education and a commitmentto servingthe people,o overcome this weakness, p(R reviewed its .liscipljnary

boards and managed to correct many problems. Members wereenco!raged to voice their d ssaiisfactions or differences

'j for instance, state representatives from Behrang and ChanglGtlering Jamaluddin Mohd (pKR), and a retired mitirary officer Capia nMohd Osman (PKR), Zulkifli Nordin a member of parlamentfor Bandar8aru, (ulinr (Malaysiakini, 1 Feb 2009; G Manimaran, 2009). A fewnew y elected representatives from pKR were tncapable ofrepresenting the people due to their tack of experience as politiciansand low €ducationat levets. Therefore they wer€ easitv influencedwhen orpssure. thredts, or rewards we.e o.fe.ed to inem.

$oltgang Sachsef roeder (ed)

through internal channeLs. PKR appLied damage control bY

advislng members not to use the rr1edia as a channe to discuss

internal affairs. Moreover, PKR required leaders to call for a

dlvislon meeting once every two months at the very least as a

way io listen to gr evances as weLl as to lmprove the party's

management. More meetings are encouraged dependlng on theneeds or demands from party mernbers. Dlvision meetings are

important because they are a p atform for party leaders to hearcomments from the grassroots level. P(R a so developed ways

to strengthen the party's nfluence by forming the youth wings.

At the beginn ng of PKR's establishment, membership in theyouth wing was open to men only. Later, the membership was

opened to wornen but the women's wing of the party was

created separatelV and is known as Srikandi. However since

2003, the number of women joinlng the Srikandi is stll low For

the divis on meetings, nine members aTe e ected as

representatives to the National Congressr flve of them are

appointed automatica ly (a Chief, Deputy Chlef, and three

deputy chiefs from ord nary members) and two of them must

PKR's financial management is difficu t to decipher by most

respondents. They have a financlal report at thelr Annual

Genera lvleeting, but the treasLlry 1s run directly by thePresident of the party, hls second man, Azmin Ali, and a fewcorporate members of the partv. so, financial transparency is a

big question in the party. However the policy "don't ask_ don'ttell" does not apply here because those who decided to run as

candidates n the general electlon approved by the party are

people who were abe to sponsor themselves. The Party

conlributes only a sma I portion to each indlvidua candidate.

P(R members strugge wlth contemporary issues and withestablishing alliances with DAP and PAS. First, workshops are

held for members to d scuss campaign strategles becaLrse PKR

never cons!lts external experls for lts poitical campaign9.

Neverthe ess members' experiences are taken into account to

minimize waste and errors Second, PKR focuses on a popular

15sue such as corruption n the Barlsan government or the need

pan) pot.r -. .n \ou,1e"n A).d

for good governance to win people,s hearts and votes. positions

:,1,:"::,T:il:r*,, and rhe p. ce or oi, and g", *,r .,p,,recrllzens tnterests as welJ. The mopromJtsared o, o*i"*r, ir,"'.ir,i':: ;::fi'",ff "'Ht:i:Alrartuya, (d J\4ongorian n-ode,J murder care, tn whicn 50mesu5pect.the prime Minisre. or a close lr:end to have been

-Yl111 L1"", or ir carnpaisns. sJppo,rers our benner>,

1r,l"lir: i"lnlB mdscore ro provo(e r,,rajio. =hese strategie-smanageo,lo. a ract mdny suppo.te.s,o;oi" rfu,rrpa,inr,oal"icJlarly Lr F yo-th. Th.rd. the pdnala.r coatit:on thal :n(,udes

ll,ll.?OO ""1 pAS arose natura y as a way ro beat the Barisangov_e nme.r .5y strck;ng rogelner. DAp 1, ,,rro, ,rug"_o..f

:ilg:::* t Peopres Artron Pany) is basica..v againsi theprovrsron on Malay privileges. Meanwhite pAi ir"t,vi"g-i",1erl'al./e rhe pe.cept;on of non-MJsrims on .sram -a1d

lJnddrrenralisrr Both pa.fles view equa,,ty .n a oitrerentco.)te\t: DAo wantt equality.o, a,l; DAS bel,eves rnat equal.ry is

::-",j.t,i0,-"^::1 ,,":*lore eq rariry musr oe Jsed ir rhe rigniprdLe ds reeoed. Howeve,, p\q, D,esideal Anwdr lbran_;,s1i1"]l:!". s(i s prevai,ed when he ded,r w.rh DAD ano pAS

l""r^":,j,:-::]:,: , " "rde, ro (o1v,nce rhem s;.r,utraneous,y toitive i\sJes t.tvo'Vtqg rJ^e rwo parties

lile^:-a(alan,xdky:t .oatrtron wa) prevro,rs.y anown as Borisa,6,,r,rror'l (A,rernalive F,ort). p(q,s orpsioenL Anwar torahim,

:l?:0.: :", imoorranr ro,e in brinsins ,eaders .ron DAp and:i'-'-':.lt" d'l'dn'e Mosi ne-nbert v,ew Anwar rb.ahim as a

:;:::,,:1.: :10 1e .s 5ri,r vi dr ,1 -n:;n!a,nirs rhe coa,irion.

; -,-",; ,-,":,. ,y".polrtrcd pdrt,es rlaL d,rter,r ioeo,ogy .nd

BUdrs iManV spn(,t:ve is)Jp, oetween DAp drd oAS are so;te"edby Anwar's negotjation skills; his efforts always pull themto8elhe'and nejp tFem Io stay,ocused on Lompetrng aga:n5rthe'r coT.no_n enemy. rhe co.-Jor a^d Jljusr Bor.5dn

::::,;:::]"ll-:r,: 2oro) ine ever o, cor esveness amons

^1ll.l"-i 9'.o,r,, ,,nproved a. rnd,]y sensir,ve ,s.ues can beu \cusse0 wrthou- (e"':rg ,ese,\,"d. -1e Ddlata. cnamp.ons0'otecr ng h-_1d- r,g. !s , t,rp-ov.ng rpallh ca.p oro,,rsiors,ale,/ot'ng pove,Lr/ ac.oss eln-( gro"ps exoos,ng !ol|rtpt,o1,

\\olleane Sachsenroedcr (ed)

voicing transparency in governance, and preventing executivepower abuse. n addition, the leaning towards natlonal unityrather than racial !rnty ernbraced by the Pakatan brings

increased support from citizens of al ethnic groups.

However, se ectlng a candidate for general election in

coordinatlon w th the coalition partners can be a difficult task.

For instance in Ke antan, 150 PKR members resigned from theparty as a result of dlsappointment over the PKR leader'sdecislon to put candldates from PAS in most parliamentary

seats in Kelantan includlng Ketereh, I!4achang, Tanah Merah,

Pengkalan (ubor, Nengg ri, Kuara Ba ah, Guchil and Paloh under

an e ectoral pact wlth PAS (The Star onLine, 2008). A recentissue reappeared when many assumed that Anwar's maturepolit cal lmage somehow influenced the selection of candidatesrunning for state or parllamentary eection. 76 Regardless ofPKR's selecting candldat-os issue, its poLitica strategy and

decislon are co lective y declded by its allies, PAS and DAP Thus,

Pakatan's decislon supersedes the party's decision and they are

obiged to their alegiance. The cornpeting interest among

a liances ha5 been resolved over the Vears as each party accepts

that they need one another to win against the Barisan

government. Regarclless of party or candidate, the main goal ofthe coaliiion is to win the e ectlons and to increase the numbers

of e ected representatlve from Pakatan into the parJiament,

n another long term strategy to strengthen the party, PKR

establlshed Argkoton Muda Keodihlh (Keadllan Youth Wing)

whlch ater became known as Pernuda Keadllan. The objective

i" For nstance. n the nate election in Hu u Selangor ln Aprll 2010, PKR

d€cided to put prom nent UMNO defector and former Barisan m n ster

Zaid brahim against P. Kama a Nathan, a Barisan candidate from M C

Pl(R ost in th s elect on to Barisan zald gained 23,272 votes whiLe P.

K:mala Nathan gained 24,997 votes, .nd Barisan was dec ared thewinner by 1,725 votes (Utusan, 25 Apri 2010) The selection of Zaid

from the core party and not from the youth wings to run as a

candidate ralsed a questlon among PKR members because he was nota oca Hu ! Se angor res dent.

Party potirics in Southeasr Asia

was to create new layers of potential eaders and supporters tobolster party existence_ The age limit to enter pemuda l<eadilanis below 40 years of age because young people are seen as thereal machine thai will empower ihe party for the long run. pKR

is willing to let candidates from the youth wings run in generalelections and Pemuda Keadilan should perceive themselves asno longer as a support group but as a main political actorcontributing to the party,s needs and sustainabilitv. Thisapprodch d,ffers fror the Barisal goverrment. lor instance. rnelJ\,4NO !oul.r w ng is viewed a) o support grouo that .s

obliBedto the older generation in UMNO,s hierarchical order.Knowing that PKR is a relative y young party, on y ten years old,many negative political phenomena such as patronage, votebuying, nepotism, and money politics have not yet surfaced.These aspects revea themselves when the political party haslong been in power, as the Barisan that is more than 50 yearsold. PKR has its own print media known as Suora Keddilon. ftwas banned from printing in years when its printing license wasdenied for renewal since lune 2010. However, banning may nothave been a deterrent for pKR to reach out to people. pKR setup a new political avenue for people to read its party ne\,1/s,updates, and critical view vja Suoro Keodilan Online.Pi(R's international image is wiclely known because of Anwarlbrahim's case. Anwar lbrahim was a second man in the Barisangovernment before serving as the Malaysian Finance Minlsterfor severa years. This office granted him tremendous politicalexposure at the internationa level. Anwar was imprisoned atSungai Buloh detention facility for 6 years. Accusations againsthim spawned a huge civil movement that attracted many g obalgovernments to condernn Dr. Mahathir,s abusive administrationof power and the unjust judicial system. The NationalEndowment for Democracy (NED), tRl and a few NGOs from theUSA and Europe are among the international organizations thathave supported PKR's movement for justice.

\\ ,lferng Sa.h5enroeder (ed)

|.

?.t,li

conclusions

The po itical aLlances among parties are an approach sultablefor an ethn caLly dlverse state Both BN and Pakatan utilizepoitica consensus among partles and participate in general

elections as an avenue to assert their polltical sovereignties.Even though each party in the alliance represents differentraces \^/ithin itselt recent developments show that PKR and DAP

tend to overtLy champlon their parties as mu tiracia. BothBNand Pakatan posit thelr intentions toward national unity butboth partres use different mechanisms to achieve that end. The

forrner sticks to raciaL unity with a strong emphasis on

champion ng each ethn c groLrp's interests with flexibletoerance. The atter advocates that good governance willcreate nat ona I unltv.

Despte progressing towards securing each ethnic group's

interests and welfare, most political partles including UMNO,

McA, and PAS are dlsplaylng the substantlal impact offactlonaJism within each party. Additionally, money politics and

domlnance are not the only factors that lead to factionalism.W th n MCA and PAS factlonallsm can occur due to differencesln opinion, personality, and seniorlty. 1n fact, factonalism is a

seasonal phenomenon: lt evo ves during the lnternal electionsand dissolves when the election is over. ln reatitybothall ances,BN and Pakatan, are able to rally their commonmiss ons, to stay Lrnited, and to compete against their defined

Moreover organlzatlona size, establishraent, and duration of

be ng in power are attributes that seem to contribute to elthermoTe oT ess structure withln a po ltical party. uMNo, MCA and

PAS are the best examples of structured and hierarchical

organl2atlons, while PKR exemplifies a new party that is less

structured. Representlng the midd e ground, DAP is f exible in

al ow ng young party members to run as candldates,

cons dering that lts registered members are les5 than UIVINO's

p,1\ po.il... in 5oJlhe"\r ^

,

or,MCA'S, _ne s'7e nand.cap mighr'o.ce a oarty ro oe more

se,ecIVe t1 -,./nntn8 cdnd;dates .or eec(:on. l1 facL, thestructured features of UMNO and MCA often dir.orr"g" ioungpeople from joining the party, as evidenced by the ihockin!results of the 2OO8 generai election. Although UMNO and MC;c aimed to have more than a milrion .eg,srered me-nbers, rhe0eleat rn Penang, nedan, Selargor and kerantan ro pakatan wa,a cedr ndicdtion tna( the Voulger generation of voters Lmovrng lway tro11 Lhe Ba,tsan governrylent,

:]l:"gi"r ,: attract voters are imptemented within partymanagemert age'1das:n aJl po.itical oarlies:n l\lalalsia. ,nadd tro., VoJth wtngs for oo-h men and women are for.ned as abeo'ocI ieatu.e tn morr polrtical parrie\. youth wi'1gs haveworked we I when parr.es o.ganile wor(snops ard t-a;ni1g tor

::y l"Ib":r. - unde.)rand rhe parry s vdrues, ideotogy andp1 losophy. Memoert volultariiy submit themlelves to theoarlys ru'es ano regulations oJt clashes of toentiry dreinevitable jn any political undertaking. However competjngrnterests between or among leaders do not lead to part;disbandment. Most conflicts rest with attitude disagreementsinstead of ideological clashes and they appear to berndnageable. ,ssues a.e resolved .espe(tful,y and mernoerserner cho,e to e\tL T1e pa1y, ro srJoject theTsetves tompm0e15h o srsoens.on o. to lace d:s(.o,ild.y a, tion. As ,ong a9conrl,ct aal be reso,ved qutc(.V 1re.noers can rest ea9y.

Another feature of political parties is the business involvement

:l ^r:,^ ,10 LV\O. Bor- oarries po*ess fi-ancia secJ,iryrToLBh vd(( nvestTents i- tlet. buq:ness nerwork( dnd a.esJbstanrLl.y inlluenced by Loroo.are tgr.es a.ro ougtne5srycoons tha good q;de ir rnar an effect ve campa,gn can be rurwith sufficient funds; the bad side js conilicts of interest thatp.o1^01e shor'g cao:tal .r po,ic:es and nepoUsn. However, rno<t

ool t.cd pantes clat,n rhar tnpy conducl tl-et. oa,ry,s linalc.aldativitres w:ln a5 m,tch tra, rparelcy as po((tb e a1d oltel hire0 otos,iona', to aud tLo oa-rv.s aLco I.ttc. ,n (mal.e. parlies

\\'ol lSang Sachtenroeder (ed)

such as PAS and DAP, fund raising can be an issue. For them,members' sacrifices, donations and voluntarily participation areadequate to sustaln their existence.

Finally, a strong control over the media allows BN to retain apopuiar mage on m€dia networks as a party that works for thepeople. What is unsaid is that it is difficult for the opponents toenjoy equal time on the air. Most of the time, pakatan partiesare portrayed as disturbers, subversives, and inexperiencedcontenders incapable of governing. pAS, DAp and p(R have tomobilize the r party images ihrough alternative channels such asblogs, online newspapers, and party websites to respond tocomments made by the government against them, Theinformation techno ogy era has significantly altered the mediamonopoly that once belonged to BN. However, conquering thesphere of information is not enough to influence voters acrossraces. The BN components still have the advantaSe of money,strong elite cohesion, large numbers of members, vast politicalexperlence, and control over government machinery that openfianks for the opposition to break the status quo. The new rulescreated by iechnology, although available to all parties, nowmake changing pol tical power ln the future possible.

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Singapore: ISEAS

Crouch, Harold. 1992 {a). Authoritarian Trends, the UMNO Splitand The Limits to State power. ln loel S. Kahn andFrancis Loh Kok Wah (eds.) Frogmented Vision: Cultureand Politics in Contemporory Moloysio. Sydneyt Allenand Unwin.

Crouch, Harold. 1992 (b). Malaysia: Neither Authoritarian NorDemocratia. ln Kevin Hewison, Richard Robison, andGarry Rodan (eds.), Southedst Asio in the Tggos:Authotitorionism, Democrocy ond Cd pitolism _ Sydney :AIlen & Unwin.

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Ghazali Mayudin. 2005. Demokrasi dan pilihan Raya diMalaysia. ln Ghazali Mayudinled.) Demokrosi,Kepifipinon don Keselomoton dolom poljtik Moloysia.Ba'lgi: Universiti Keoangsaan Ma,aysia.

Gomez, EdmundTerence &Jomo K.S. 1997. M otoysio,s potiticolEconony: palitics, potronage dhd ptofits. unlledKingdom: Cambridge L,niversity.

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Horowitz, Donald L. 1985. Ethnic Gtoups in Conlli.t. Berkeley:University of Calafornia press.

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iI

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