Future & Politic Of Malaysia

Malaysia''s predominant political party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), has held power in coalition with other parties since Malaya''s independence in 1957. In 1973, an alliance of communally based parties was replaced with a broader coalition — the Barisan Nasional — composed of fourteen parties. The political process in Malaysia has generally been described as taking the form of "consociationalism" whereby "communal interests are resolved in the framework of a grand coalition""Malaysia: Developmental State Challenged". In Government and Politics in Southeast Asia'' The executive branch has tended to dominate political activity, with the Prime
Minister''s office being in a position to preside "over an extensive and
ever growing array of powers to take action against individuals or
organizations," and "facilitate business opportunities". Critics
generally agree that although authoritarianism in Malaysia preceded the
administration of Mahathir bin Mohamad, it was he who
"carried the process forward substantially" Legal scholars have
suggested that the political "equation for religious and racial harmony"
is rather fragile, and that this "fragility stems largely from the
identification of religion with race coupled with the political
primacy of the Malay people colliding with the aspiration of other
races for complete equality."
Like the desire of a segment of the Muslim community for an Islamic State,
the non-Malay demand for complete equality is something that the present Constitution will not be able to
accommodate. For it is a demand which pierces the very heart of the political
system — a system based upon Malay political pre-eminence. It is a demand that
challenges the very source of Malay ruling elites'' power and authority.
In early September 1998, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad dismissed Deputy
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and accused Anwar of immoral and
corrupt conduct. Later in
September, Anwar was arrested, beaten while in prison (by among others, the
chief of police at the time), and charged with corrupt practices, in both legal
and moral contexts, charges including obstruction of justice and sodomy.
In April 1999, he was convicted of four counts of corruption and sentenced to
six years in prison. In August 2000, Anwar was convicted of one count of sodomy
and sentenced to nine years to run consecutively after his earlier six-year
sentence. Both trials were viewed by domestic and international observers as
unfair. Anwar''s conviction on sodomy has since been overturned, and having
completed his six-year sentence for corruption, he has since been released from
prison.The current Prime Minister is Dato'' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (colloquially
known as "Pak Lah"). He took office following the retirement of Dr.
Mahathir (now Tun Dr. Mahathir) on October 31, 2003. He is seen as a more
compromising and affable figure as opposed to Tun Dr. Mahathir''s more
confrontational and direct style. He has pledged to continue Tun Dr. Mahathir''s
growth oriented policies, while taking a less belligerent stance on foreign
policy than Tun Dr. Mahathir, who has regularly offended Western countries, the
United States
of America and Australia in particular.
In the March 2004 general election,
Dato'' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi led Barisan Nasional
to a landslide victory, in which Barisan
Nasional recaptured the state of Terengganu.
The coalition now controls 92% of the seats in Parliament. In 2005, Mahathir
stated that "I believe that the country should have a strong government
but not too strong. A two-thirds majority like I enjoyed when I was prime
minister is sufficient but a 90% majority is too strong. We need an
opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed you
think everything you do is right."
The national media are largely controlled by the government and by political
parties in the Barisan Nasional/National Front ruling
coalition and the opposition has little access to the media. The print media
are controlled by the Government through the requirement of obtaining annual
publication licences under the Printing and Presses Act. In 2007, a
government agency — the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission —
issued a directive to all private television and radio stations to refrain from
broadcasting speeches made by opposition leaders. The official state ideology
is the Rukunegara,
which has been described as encouraging "respect for a pluralistic,
multireligious and multicultural society". However, political scientists
have argued that the slogan of Bangsa, Agama, Negara (race, religion,
nation) used by UMNO constitutes an unofficial ideology as well. Both
ideologies have "generally been used to reinforce a conservative political
ideology, one that is Malay-centred"
Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective
monarchy. It is nominally headed by the Paramount Ruler or Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commonly
referred to as the King of Malaysia. Yang di-Pertuan Agong are selected for
five-year terms from among the nine Sultans
of the Malay states;
the other four states, which have titular Governors, do not participate in the
selection. The king also is the leader of the Islamic faith in Malaysia. The
system of government in Malaysia is closely modeled on that of Westminster parliamentary system, a legacy of British
colonial rule. In practice however, more power is vested in the
executive branch of government than in the legislative, and the judiciary has
been weakened by sustained attacks by the government during the Mahathir era. Parliamentary elections are held at least
once every five years, with the last general election being in March 2008.
Since independence in 1957, Malaysia has been governed by a multi-racial
coalition known as the Barisan Nasional (formerly the Alliance).
Executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the prime
minister must be a member of the lower house of parliament who, in the opinion of the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from
among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body.
In recent years the opposition have been campaigning for free and fairer
elections within Malaysia.

Malaysia court sets date for Anwar sodomy trial

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - - Malaysia's high court has set a new date for Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy hearing, his counsel has said, voicing fears that the opposition leader will not get a fair trial.

Sankara Nair told AFP that the high court has said it will now try Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, July 8 rather than July 1 for sodomy charges levelled by a former aide.

"We are not fully prepared for the trial because we do not have the full set of documents. The prosecution has not given us crucial documents to help us in our defence. It will lead to (an) unfair trial," he said.

The lawyer said that among the documents the defence needs are witness statements, CCTV footage and original swabs taken from Anwar and his accuser for re-testing.

Sankara also said that the trial judge would hear Anwar's request to have the charge dropped on the same date.

"We maintain the charge is baseless and should be withdrawn. There is no case against Anwar," he said.

The opposition leader said last week that the charge against him should be dropped because it was a "political ploy" but vowed to fight hard in court to clear his name.

In an interview with AFP, he voiced concern false evidence would be introduced in a bid to jail him and end his political career.

"It's a convenient way for UMNO to get rid of me to settle their political problem," he said, referring to the United Malays National Organisation which is the dominant party in the ruling National Front coalition.

Anwar, 61, has consistently rejected the allegations levelled by a 23-year-old former aide -- the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago -- as a government conspiracy to derail his plan to topple the ruling coalition.

Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is illegal in predominantly Muslim Malaysia and carries a penalty of 20 years' imprisonment.

Anwar has the best ever chance of ousting the weak National Front government that has ruled Malaysia since 1957 after the opposition deprived the government of a two-thirds majority in 2008 elections.

The opposition leader is currently out on a 20,000-ringgit bail (5,700 dollars) pending his trial but supporters have expressed fears that it might be revoked during the hearing.

Malaysia's Anwar: Ready to be jailed for sodomy

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday he is prepared to be jailed for sodomy in a trial next month, but warned his conviction could unleash a groundswell of public support to rout the government in the next elections.

Anwar denies the charge and said he does not expect a fair trial. It's the second time in his political career that he has been charged with sodomy. Both cases have been politically motivated to stop him from challenging the people in power, he said.

But just like the first case, "there will be a huge outcry here and internationally," Anwar told The Associated Press.

"The worst-case scenario for me personally would be great for the opposition and the worst-case scenario for the government" in the next elections in 2013, he said.

Anwar, 61, was charged last August with sodomizing a 23-year-old male former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Sodomy, a crime in this Muslim-majority country, is punishable by up to 20 years in jail even if it is consensual.

The trial starts July 8 and is seen as a test of credibility for Malaysia's judiciary, which has been tainted by allegations that many judges are corrupt and easily influenced by the government. The trial will also reflect on new Prime Minister Najib Razak's promises to create a more open and free society.

"My chances, given a free fair trial, are 100 percent, but under the current circumstances the chances go down fast," Anwar said. "Nobody likes to go to jail, but I will do it if forced to ... and hopefully (come) out like a hero."

He said a government hospital's July 13 medical report of a rectal examination of Saiful found no evidence of anal penetration. He also claimed that his defense team has evidence to show that he was framed and that Saiful has become exceedingly wealthy in recent months. He implied Saiful was bribed by the government.

The government denies it is persecuting Anwar, and says it has nothing to do with what it describes as a personal case between two individuals.

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, spent six years in prison after being convicted of corruption and sodomy following his ouster from the Cabinet in 1998. His arrest led to weeks of massive anti-government protests, and support for the ruling National Front coalition fell drastically in general elections the following year, even though it returned to power.

After emerging from jail in 2004 when the sodomy conviction was overturned, Anwar formed an unusual three-party opposition alliance that won more than one-third of Parliament seats in the 2008 elections.

It was the first time Malaysia's opposition parties had formed an alliance cutting across racial lines. Anwar brought them together by tapping into the anti-government resentment not only among the minority Chinese and Indians but also the majority Malays.

Anwar said his alliance will surely win the next elections, due in 2013, if he goes to jail.

"If (Prime Minister) Najib pursues this, he is making a big blunder. It will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life," he said. "They can control the judiciary, the media, the police but they cannot control public opinion."

Still, Anwar said, the alliance has taken into account the possibility of him going to jail, which would bar him from contesting elections for five years after he has served his sentence.

The three parties are holding "elaborate sessions" on who would lead the alliance into next elections, Anwar said.

"This time, we are prepared for everything," he said.

Practising in Perak

For federal battles to come

WHEN three legislators in Perak, one of five of opposition-ruled Malaysian states, switched sides in February, overturning a narrow majority in the 59-seat assembly, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was cock-a-hoop. After a big electoral setback last year, the long-dominant UMNO was at last taking the fight to the opposition, led by its nemesis, Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister. Loyalists credited the defections, reportedly induced by the threat of corruption probes, to the bare-knuckle tactics of Najib Razak, since sworn in as prime minister in place of the mild-mannered Abdullah Badawi. Taking back Perak was just the start, UMNO snarled.

Perak was indeed the start of something, but not the rollback of Malaysia’s opposition, as foreseen by UMNO and its ruling coalition partners. Instead it has snowballed into a constitutional crisis that reveals the wobbly underpinnings of a democracy yet to be tested by a handover of power at the federal level. On May 7th, amid scuffles at Perak’s parliament, UMNO’s man was installed as chief minister. Scores of people were arrested, including the speaker of the house, who was bundled away by plainclothes police. He had objected to the takeover as it had never been put to a vote in the assembly.

On May 11th it was the opposition’s turn to crow. The High Court ruled that its man, Nizar Jamaluddin, was still the chief minister of Perak as his removal in February was illegal. He had been removed not, as is usual in parliamentary systems, by his elected peers but by Perak’s sultan, one of Malaysia’s hereditary state rulers. Sultan Azlan Shah had sealed the controversial takeover on February 5th, ignoring an appeal from Mr Jamaluddin to dissolve the house and hold snap elections.

The opposition’s euphoria was short-lived. The next day UMNO successfully obtained a stay from an appeals court against the reinstatement of Mr Jamaluddin. That decision allowed Zambry Kadir, UMNO’s candidate, to return on May 13th as caretaker chief minister. Grotesquely, in a blog posting, Mr Kadir likened his grubby power play to the struggles of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.

A fast-track deliberation by the appeals court should resolve the case in the next week or so. But the political fallout is much harder to fix. Should the obstreperous assembly reconvene, more scuffles are likely, says James Chin, a political scientist at Monash University’s campus in Kuala Lumpur. One way out, it seems, is to hold fresh elections in Perak. Yet that is exactly what UMNO fears most after a run of embarrassing defeats in state and federal polls. Ministers complain that by-elections are a waste of public money. In the case of Perak, the legal and legislative routes have not been exhausted, argues Khairy Jamaluddin (no relation), a senior UMNO official.

The opposition is expected to win again in Perak, as it did in March 2008 in an election that saw the UMNO-led National Front lose its cherished two-thirds majority in parliament. Mr Anwar subsequently sought to persuade 30 ruling MPs to cross the floor, the same tactic used in Perak. His advisers argued that this was justified as he planned to dissolve the house and return power to the people, betting on victory. In the end, Mr Anwar’s carrot went unbitten. But it dangles still, and UMNO knows it.

The bigger question posed by the proxy war in Perak is what happens if the levers of federal power should one day slip from UMNO’s hands, as has seemed inevitable since last year’s election. Entrenched political elites rarely go quietly. A politicised civil service and security apparatus might resist an opposition victory, and look to the judiciary and, possibly, the sultans for support. Mr Anwar knows this, and is courting power-brokers in the system. But the danger of civil unrest should not be dismissed lightly. That is particularly true if UMNO decides to play on tensions between Malaysia’s majority Malays and its ethnic-Chinese and Indian minorities.

Until the Perak storm broke, Mr Najib had been steering a mildly reformist course. A handful of political prisoners have been freed, including ethnic Indians jailed after rowdy anti-government protests in 2007. Regulations on Islamic banking and insurance, and on local-ownership restrictions in selected service sectors were liberalised. But the core grievances of non-Malays over statutory privileges for the Malays remain. These privileges, staunchly defended by UMNO, were introduced in 1971, two years after deadly race riots in Kuala Lumpur. The riots began after UMNO suffered election losses to Chinese-based opposition parties. The date, by coincidence, was May 13th 1969.

Malaysian Politics Turned Upside Down

Malaysians awoke on Sunday to a vastly altered political landscape after voters suddenly and unexpectedly questioned five decades of political status quo and decided it was time for a change.

Malaysians from across the country's deep racial divide deserted the ruling coalition in droves at general elections, handing control of its north to Islamists and its industrial hub to leftists.

The result from Saturday's elections were still being counted on Sunday morning, but the protest vote looked to hand an unprecedented five state assemblies to the opposition and cut the coalition's majority in federal parliament to a record low.

"It's bad," said a source close to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, attributing the massive protest vote to a raft of concerns focusing on rising prices and religious tensions.

"It's a perfect storm."

The result has raised security fears: the last time the multi-racial Barisan Nasional (National Front) suffered a big setback, in 1969, race riots and a state of emergency ensued.

"The only other time this happened was in 1969 and that's why everybody is very nervous now because of the uncertainty," said Bridget Welsh, political analyst with Johns Hopkins University.

Malaysia's streets were largely quiet, and political experts said they doubted there would be racial violence this time, noting that all of Malaysia's major ethnic communities -- Malays, Chinese and Indians -- had deserted the government.

In 1969, the majority Malay community had stayed loyal to Barisan while the Chinese backed the opposition, setting the stage for racial clashes.

About 200 people were killed, according to the official tally, but unofficial estimates were much higher.

Barisan and the opposition both appealed for calm on Sunday.

But peace on the streets is unlikely to totally erase investor concerns as they survey the surprising new political landscape.

"This is probably not good news for the equity market or the ringgit," said Tim Condon, Singapore-based head of Asia research for investment bank ING.

ISLAMISTS FAN OUT

Islamist party Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), whose platform calls for stonings and amputations of Muslim thieves and adulterers, looks set to win control of three northern states, stretching along Malaysia's border with Thailand.

PAS has already run Kelantan state, in the northeast, for 18 years and has banned gambling and hotels from serving alcohol. It claimed victory on Sunday in the neighboring states of Kedah and Perak, the latter having a large population of Chinese.

PAS leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat tried to broaden the party's appeal in the election campaign -- even nominating a non-Muslim candidate in one seat -- but the predominantly Buddhist Chinese community has always held deep suspicions about it.

Instead, the Chinese turned to the leftist Democratic Action Party (DAP), which won control of Prime Minister Abdullah's home state of Penang, the hub for Malaysia's electronics industry, which accounts for about half of the country's exports.

Central Selangor state also tilted toward the opposition in counting on Sunday, suggesting an unprecedented five state assemblies could fall to opposition parties.

Abdullah spoke on Sunday as though none of this had happened, telling reporters he would go ahead and form the next government and giving no hint of his own future, which looks bleak. He has to survive his own internal party elections later this year.

Abdullah held hands aloft with his deputy and most likely challenger, Najib Razak, in a hollow victory salute, but the real winner sounded like another ambitious Malay politician, Anwar Ibrahim, who heads the opposition Keadilan (Justice) party.

"This is a new dawn," said Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who is styling himself as the one leader who can galvanize Malaysia's ideologically divided opposition parties and appeal to all of the main ethnic communities.

Unable to stand in Saturday's polls because of his criminal record, he is expected soon to take over his old parliamentary seat from his wife, who kept it warm while he was in prison.

"Tomorrow we will start building a brighter future," he said.