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The Political Parties in Malaysia

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 Pa rty Folitics
in Southeast Asia
Organization - Money - lnfluence

Edited by Wolfgang Sachsen rdder

Partyforumseasia
Copyrlght O 2014 Wolfgang Sachsenroder

All rights reserved.

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

I"arly l'olitics in Southeast Asia

CHAPTER 4: MALAYSIA

The Political Parties in Malaysia

By Ka rtini Aboo Ta lib @ Kha lid

lntroduction

Malaysian politics and socioeconomic structures have always

been 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 the
Malay, Chinese and lndian populations. Right after
independence in 1957, the political landscape in Malaysia
evolved and focused attention towards better alliances among
the three major, parties, the United Malays National
Organization (UMNO), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
and the Malaysian lndian Congress (MlC). The alliance was
called 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 legitimacy
through many strategies such as participating in the complex
Malay quests for securing the privileges of the Malay majority,
insuring Chinese business activities and improving lndian's
demand 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 to
1959, the mid-1970s, and the late 1980s. The first phase
depicted the effect of British colonialism that delineated
economic activities along ethnic lines. The Malays as original
lnhabitants of the country wlth a slight majority of over 50%
were concentrated on holding administrative and bureaucratic
power, while the Chinese immigrants were city dwellers that
controlled credit and tight trading networks among families.
The lndian minority had control over the rubber plantations.
 Pany Politi6 io southeasl Asia
\\ ollgang Sachsenroeder (ed)

but many
was introduced to lift the N4alays' economic barriers
Dissatisfaction of many Malays on economic barriers later and non Malays in
AIi Baba deals were made between Malays
turned nto interethnic hostillty ln the May 13'h 1959 riots. The
an effort to share political favors and revenues' Furthermore'
Malay grievances on economlc inferiority and non-MalaV for
the NEP implementation continued to accumulate wealth
resentment aboLrt their inferior political and cultural statuso5 to expand in an
Chinese tycoons by allowing their businesses
had weakened the Barlsan alliance. Many lMa ays' support for
,nini"rrupt"d manner. Thus, it allowed the Barisan-led
UMNO had eroded, while many Chinese engaged in the
government to sustain its legltimate power'
Democratic Action Party (DAP) and involved in assemblies
organized by GERAKAN (Peop e's Movement Party), provoking people's support
The third phase of the late 1980s showed that
Malays to sharp ethnic violence {Case, 1995). The riot was
for the Barisan-led government was sustained despite internal
cleared throLrgh enforcement and preventive actions were and MCA' The
struggles for power and factions within UMNO
taken to avoid such c ashes in the future.
frictio'ns between UMNo leaders Mahathir Mohamad
and

Tengku Razaleigh led to the Team A and Team B

rivalry over the
The second phase emerglng in the mid-1970s described Mahathir represented
attempts by the BErlsan al ance to reassure the masses that p"rt"y'r .y.UoI and cultural promise5
climate
they were still the right party to promote peace, prosperity. and Team A and catalyzed new ideas for Malays'business
the other
stability across ethnic lines. The New Economic PolicyaT policV that were more dynamic, sophisticated and risky On
promoted a conservatlve
hand, Tengku Razaleigh and Team B
(son ofthe earth'
uppio".r, it", t *,"ion fulfilling Bumiputra
My compliments go to the Naumann Foundation, and UKM'AP-CMNB- ii",lr,t'," v.t"y9quotas and requirements' The conflict ended
20 2A09/2 dneclat Prof. Dr. Kama Ha il
Hassan. My sincere thank tyfearnatorrine l'leu, UMNO(UMNo baru) andTeam B being
vou to Dr. Wolfgang Sachsenroeder for Siving me the oppo(unity to orrt"a fo.tf," iarty and forming Semangat 46 (Case' 1995I
loin ths project, Dr Karen Vautour, Dr. Nidzam Sulaiman, and Dr. (UMNo
fo irprou" support f;om the MaLays, the New UMNO
Ier€nce Gomez for editing and proof reading this manuscript.
baru) revamped NEP's rhetoric by introducing the New
o"r"too."n, PolicY that improved credit controls lor the
'6 A backl6sh against the foLrnding compromise oflndependent
Malays a n 1963 Fu I citizenship for Chinese and lndians again5t
,]r* ,nrort" val s arranan Ra(vaf3 or MARA (Cou'lcil of
political supremacy of the Malays
of Publlc Bank. Both dld not receive government concession to be
" ttlE lrp was introduc€d after the race riot in 1959. Their object ve leaders of their own businesses
was twojold: first was to restructure the previous economic condition
that was withln the ethnic llnes, and second was to alleviate poverty.
The NEP mpementatlon lvas deslgned to prodLrce more lvlalay os
Majljs Amanah Rakyat or MARA (Coun.il of Trust
for the
entrepreneurs and to simullaneously expand the Chinese businesses gr-'or,"r"l was established on March l' 1966 as the result of a
tne oLrview or the
throuCh the so-called All-8aba deals {case, 1995:96-97). The policy
permitted cont nuous share swappins and sub-contracts for Chinese
;;,,'J;";,;', dec.,,o-. rhe asencv s MABA is responsible for
under
irlin rtrv oi awuL una n"gional Develop"ent
of economic and
businessmen, allowing uninterrupted businesses including The Multi- ii" i"i"i.p.""., encowagement, and facilitation
particularly in the rurai
purpose Corporation, Vincert Tan, Francis Yeoh (YTL Corporations). r".i.f a""J"pln"* wthl;thefederatlon,
However not a I Chinere tycoons' accumulated wea th benefitted from areas. Details at MARA website www.mara'gov'rny/web/8uest/sejarah
NEP. For insrance. Loh Boon Siew was the first sole distriburor of
Honda motorcycles rn Malaysia, and Tph Hong Piou, was the chairman
 Parrv Politi.s in Soulheasl Asia
wolfsans Sachsenroeder (ed)

of various tactics applied by the Barisan to attract voters

Trust fo'the BLrmiputra) and ordered the council to open an
and supportfrom the people (Malaysian lnsider,2010 b).
rnvestment scheme for non-Malays as well. This interethnic
integration further secured trust and support for UNINO and AND
Tab|e ].: THE RESULT OF GENERAL ELECTIONS IN 2OO8 STATE
Barisan. PARLIAMENTARY SEATS
The Barisan-led government has been successful in maintaining
its egitlmacy by creating a balance ln redressing Malay GeneralElection 2008 BN PAS DAP PKR
140 23 28 31
grievances while at some leve respecting non-Malay identities
State seats 301 83 40
and property rights (Case, 1995: 104). Thanks to them, the
result of the 1980s throLrgh 1990s emphasis on an integrated
Source: {utusan Online, 2008) Barisan Nasional (BN), Parti lslam
communitV across the races has contrlbuted to a more
SeMalaysia (PAS), Democratic Action Party (DAP, Parti Keadilan
comfortable Malay and non,N/lalay confidence in work sharing
Rakyat (PKR)
(Kessler,2008). The Barisan government is now facing a new
wave of polltical change where more Malays and non- Ma ays The election results in 2OO8 showed a great wave of change in
are immune to racial tension, thus th€y are forging universal the political landscape where the Barisan government lost its
approaches to good governance, Ma aysians are alert to money
2/3 majority in the parliament. Between the years 2008-2011,
politics, issues of nepotism among the BaTisan- ed po itical ellte,
there were a series of by-elections due to death and resignation
corruption, injustice, and inequality. This new political idealism of members of parliament. Out of thirteen separate by'
has shlfted support away from voters that were once reserved the Barisan government was unable to change the
elections,
ultimate y fo. the Barisan government. A tremendous shift was number of total seats thev galned in paliament This political
evidence of a changing political landscape in the last four tsunami has encouraged the Barisan a liance to regroup and
genera elections in Malaysia, as indicated in the tables below.
rethink its strategies. Tab e 3 displays the by_election results of
The results showed a gradual parliamentary seat decline for the 2OO8-2011 at the state and parliamentary levels
Barisan-ed government, particulary in the 2008 general
elecrion. Athough the Barisan-led government managed to Table 2: The by-election r€sults 2008 throush 2011
secure the most votes in the East Ma aysian states of Sabah and
Sarawak when compared to states in Peninsula Malaysia, the GE 2008 By elections
decline in votes across the board was obvious. The decreased 2008-2011
number of parliamentary seats in 2009, only 140 down from Kuala Terenqqanu (P) BN
198, came as a shock to UMNO and the Barlsan Nasional Bukit GantanP (P) PAS PAS
coa ition, Permatane Pauh (P) PKR

The Barisan government had excellent eection records of Penanti (S) PKR PAS

wlnn ng most seats in the parliament as compared to the Permatanq Pasir (S) BN PKR

opposton. Barisan has been tactlca y wise in securing their Bukit selambau (S) BN
sibu (P) SN DAP
votes not on y in Sabah and Sarawak but also in the states in the
Peninsula. A campaign strategy lnc uding giving away federal Manil Urai(S) PAS
Batans Al (s) PRs (BN)
grants such as RM18 mi ions for 67 schoo s in sibu, Sarawak, is
 \\'olExnE SJchsenruedc, \ed) Pafly Politics in Soulheast Asia

Bagan Pinans (S) 8N increased to nearly 85 percent in 2013. ln this landmark election
BN
Hulu selangor (p) BN BN
The BN coalition lost seven seats, retainin8 133, and the
G al.s (S)
PAS opposition Pakatan coalition increased its number by seven to
8N
P85 (BN) PBS (SNl 89. BN managed to keep a majority which would be seen as
BN 8N comfortable in most European countries thanks to the highly
BN BN gerrymandered votinB system which gives disproportional
(erdau (S) BN BN weight to rura I constituencies.

Sou..e SLrJnaij.!d p.,r

P=
"- Bdy: Matav:ra, 2011
Pa.liament, S = Federatstate sears
The high percentage of voier turnout is due to several reasons
sLlch aS voters recogni2ing and exercising their participation
Bd.,sdr Na! o-a. {BN). pa, | (eao .Er er..yar rpt(R). pa.ti
,tam rights, voters receiving gjfts and cash benefits enco!rating them
5e\4a ays,a-lrAs). DemoLrdnc A.tion pdrty
lDAp), partiRatyat to join a cause, voters becoming members or strong supporters
Sarawal (PRs) part Bers;ru S.bah (pBs)l
of a political party, voters havinS easv access to election
Malaysia has a multlparty system and elections premises/ voters receiving continuous reminders on voters,
are viewed as a
peaceful way to promote change in rights and election day from the national media networks. and
the quasi democratic
government in Malaysia. Trust in the election voters being a part of the huge number of crowds, effective
process is still
important because it is the avenue for political parties to campaigns. and entertainment that are able to atract them to
legitimize their power despite doubts in rnany be part of the election festivities. Elections become a culture
aspects of the
election process (Alagappa, 1995j Mitne & Mauzy, that people look forward to celebrating or maybe even gaining
1999). profits for local entrepreneurs selling banners, buntings, books,
Although the domjnant party coalition Barisan
Nasional has
been in power for more than fifty years, competition magazines, political CDs, food and beverages at public talks
among
political parties is encouraged and continuous. during the election campaigns.
Malaysia also-
has several laws and reguletionsie that facilitate
elections. Thus
the conduct of elections has to comply with these This paper covers five political parties including UMNO, MCA,
election laws
and regulatlons, even though some aspects such Parti Keadilan Rakyat (pKR), Democratic Action party (DAp), and
as the postal
vot ng mechanisrn have been questioned for possible Parti lslam SeMalaysia (PAS). These parties were selected
fraud
(Milne & Mauzy, 1999). because each possesses unique features that can be measured
to profile its performance and stability. UMNO and IVICA are the
The percentage for voter turnout in Malaysia two prominent parties from the Barisan government and are
was more than 70
p€rceni of the total reglstered voters for the known for their stronB allegiance through politics End
last frve genera
elections (1990-2008), and, due to the growrng potarization, economics. Both parties have been in the political forefront
before independence and remain currently active. Until 2OOg,
BN consisted of 13 other political partiegso including in Sabah
-' There are lists of laws and regutations that iacittate
ihe election
through Election Commrssion Malaysia such as Etection
Act of 1958, ji Until 2008, politicai parties in BN were UMNO, MCA, MlC, Gerakan,
Election Offenses Act of 1954, Conducts of Electjon
and Regul.tions of
1981, Elections (Regtstration of Etectors of 2002, and postat Parti Progresif (PPP), parri pe$ka Bumiputera Bersatu
Rakyat
Votin8
ReBulatrons of 2003. httpr//www.sp..gov/ Sarawak{PBB), Parti Ralqat Eersatu Sarawak (SUpp), parti Bersatu
 Parry Potjrics in Southeast Asia
N oliga.B Sacbsenroeder (ed)

parliament. lnterviews were done on separate occasions

and Sarawak, however thls study was designed to analyze only accommodating the respondents, schedules. Most Statements
five active political palties. Such constraints Ied researchers to given are consistent to one another for each distinct party. Their
choose among political parties that gave active voluntary opinions are integrated into the discussions in order to maintain
responses to and participation in this studY.
anonymity as requested. The descriptions Elven by respondents
The other three polltical parties (PKR, DAP and PAS cum Pakatan
are not verified further as to maintain as possible respondents
Rakyat, an opposition coalition) are strong opponents that
opinions, experiences. and emotions.
challenge the Barisan government's status qLlo in every state
and Senera eLection. Scholars have wrltten much on UMNO,
United Malays Natlonal Organization (UMNO)
MCA, PAS and DAP but most articles are critical views from
l.lMNO was founded in May, 1946 as a reaction a8ainst the
before independence unti Late 1990s- ln fact, PKR, a new party
British colonial's administration,s proposal on the establishment
ihat has been established from resistance to social movements,
of the Malayan {Jnion, a united state of Malaysia. The proposal
has vet to be documented. Moreover, contexts of discussion on
was to abolish the monarchy system that had been in practice
pollt ca parties in MaJaysia are focused separately on power
since the existence of Malaya and was intended to introduce
legitimacy (alagappa, 1995), leadership and authoritarianism
(Khoo, 1995; Crouch 1992 (a)), e ections (Nadzri, 2009; Ghazali,
the recognition of awarding the immjgrants (Chinese and
power lndians) with citizenship without delay (Funston, 19BO). The
2006), government hegemony and mechanisms to retain
resistance was persisten! thus the Malayan Union failed.
(Nidzam,2006), ethnicity and economic polarization (Gomez &
lomo 1997; lesudason, 1989i Jomo, 1986), Malaysia's However, the British established a requirement for
independence that the various political parties based on ethnic
consociation, and quasi democracy and limited freedom groupings shoL.rld work together. Thus in 1955, the perikatan
((esser 2OO8; Case 1.995, lesudason 1995). Therefore, this
was established to meet the challenge. The perlkatan was a
paper maps the performance of each party using indicators such
coalition of three major political parties that represented
as hi5torv, management of the partY, members'interactions,
different ethnic g.oups such as UMNO (a Malay-based party),
phi osophy and ideology, eaders and contrib!tions, political
MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association), and MtC (Malaysian
cultures, strategy and target voters, and party networks'
ndian congress). The first pre election was conducted in 1955
The tota nLrmber of respondents wilLing to participate in
to assess the support from the people ofTanah Melayu with the
intensive lnterviewlng was 17 people which means more than
idea of independence. The perikatan swept 5l seats out of S2 in
three respondents from each party Respondents hold a a pre-electjon. This pre-independence election was able to
position in thelr party hierarchy ranging from president to
convince the British that Tanah Melayu and the coalition were
divisional members who are presently representatives in the
ready to govern the couhtry independently. Thus, the
independence of Tanah Melayu was declared by the British on
Sabah (PBS), Parti L beral Demokratik Parti Bersaru
sabah (LDP),
Augr.lst 31, 1957. The first election after independence was in
Rakvat Sabah(PBRS), Pertubuhan Pasokmomogun Kada'zandusun
Demokratik 1959 and the coalition was given enormoLls advantage for its
Murlt Bersatu (uPKO), Parti Progresif
Utuson Molovtio' majority victory (74 seats in parliament out of 104). tn 1973, the
sarawak(SPDP), Parti Rakvat Sarawak(PRSI.
'ee
Nkib 1al3l2A11 Komponen BN diminto oktil doJtor pengundi baru' Perikatan changed its name to B.risan Nasional and the Barisan
http://www.utusan.com.mY/utusan/info.asp?v=2011&dt=0314&pub' government has dominated the parliament since independence.
(accessed
utLr5an MaaYsia&sec=N/luka-Hadapan&pg=mh-04'htm
on!ine 21 March 2011)
 Wolfgang Sachsentoeder (ed) party politics in
Southeast Asia

The coalltion brought success to them because voters tended to cultivating patriotism. youths
are compelled to join the
e €ct parties that were multiracia (Azrnan, 2008). they are co.srdered as new caders
:l::r-"T: ""0 i1 rhe yourn
althou8h join;ns rhe pe.ry forma,ty
Other po itical parties joined the coalltion on separate upuuldt ro 0ar _l:*
:"],t^'":i^'l: tcipants, Anolne. tooj is aKU JANJ
,s

occasions, such as Parti Bersatu Sabah (pBS), parti Gerakan, and , or a consent
agreement, which is mandatorv
Parti Pesaka Burniputera Bersatu (pBB). pAS (parti lslam for oublii
co.npry wirn as an asre",";i
SeMa aysia), SNAP (Sarawa ( National party) and SUpp (sarawak
;;";:;1"'":i'JilI#:l?l,ill
tr arso tesdrty binds rhem nol
United People's Party) were in and out of the Barisan coalition. ::y::ltl:
"::",,],,,""
ro commiL any
oy rne governneiI ro be subversive.
actio.s
PAS joined the Barisan in 1973 and it was subsequentlV reiected Th:s oveT-
utrl,zalto'l of governmerr age,]cies
in 1977. Other political parties such as pBS (parti Bersatu Sabah) r'rl'uen_ce leadr to elrensive p.opaganda
ro secu.e )Lopo-r dnd
and PBDS (Parti Be.satu Dayak Sarawak) were in and out of a asso(.ared wirh any
oeveropment project Jnder rne potiti(al
coalition a few times. PBS is in the Barisan coalition hitherto, oanne. ot Barisan.
u'vlNU c'|aims LhaL its party,s phi,osoDhy
while PBDS is now dissolved. The popular image of the coooe,ar,on-', Howeve UM\O is
is un,ty and
coalition's capability is that it represents a I races in a plural a \,4a,a!-based oa.ty tiat ,.,",
pro-no, nB tl-e o.".ul.r.,
society lke Malaysia. tt carrles the images of sharing, :::l-::lr, o" of Matdv r,snrs dnd
pr vleges. ':t.onicJ. y. under rne U\,tNO
cooperating, progressing, and a v sion for nation bui ding within governmFnl, the M"tays cum Bdnsdn
hJVA lo.t most of the:r ctaims,
the Ma ayslan culture. t also hlghlights the image of stability the sJch as
., ..
_,:,
Mal:v ro- private bus.nesses,
J'd pea.e r-ar ut I Budrantee urity and hJpp'ness. cards rnaL no to.se, sr:re tne
the

UIVINO plays a malor roie in determining progress and stability

:::llll:",'""
orscontrnuat|o1 ol (cnorarships ror
\ratay
race, rhe
Ma,ays, rhe Valay language
for this country. The party has been in power with the aliiances in schoots and beirg no tonge.
l::IC,-cr]dtierg.ed
pracr'ce lor pr'vdte sectorr, and rne rnega-p.OJectsoffic;at ln
of MCA and M C for more than 53 years. The coercive coalition
o,,e'ed to rnutti-dr'onal co11pantes (tzant. thar are
among these parties has been necessary to ba ance the delicate 2007). Neverthe,ess,
relationship in a multiethnic community. As UMNO is part ofthe
Barisan that formed the government, it utilizes agencies such as reducifg poarizalbi hro./,wwvv.^h,dmarregdra.Bov._y/
Bira Totonegaro (BTN)r1 and program Latihdh Khidmdt Negard ^'"cirron 31JanLrary
onrrne 2OI)
(PLKN or the National Service Trainlng program)s, as ways of
to Join uv\o tor rhe \4ardvs:c p"rr orisrr
5L - ,o.ne.-or'vato"
trar,r rds .ore r.r rhree m,rron
dnd
Biro Tataneg.ra or BTN is an agency admtn stered dtrectty under the
Prime M nister's Depanment. One ofrhe manyobjectives isto provtde
:,j:^:l".T
me-0ei "r)9,,"rms
aro-.d Mrtcyna. the .LmbF, or n.w
a f rst hand Lrnderstandifg of patriotGm afd history, with rhe aim of oarty sig'r.itd1fly ouLr^.,8h, rnose pe.sons me_oersjoinirB rhe
men oFr, m;y n01 be dDre to in( -ea-e
wro ted!. Ordrn"ry
cultivai ng accountability and dscipine na civit servants delvering Ine.. _ocral s-aru. by,oinine thi
serv ces to c trzen5 5ee deta l5 at http //www.btn.sov.mv/
ij^.i fi- ndve ose r",drroas ro rhp co-e erRe ano
on ine on 3l.lanuary 2011).
{accessed , "1."".,who
pos.r.or\ - pa4v d.v.\io., ,voutd
!':erogram be db.e to enjoy
Lathan Khdmat Negara (prKN) or the Nationat Service alo'|e'pec'| sncane^ o',.o'a,compone
i".::.: lli"9" rs :n,he
Training Program ls a program designed for 17 year otd youths that d pe1o.a, iFwa.d ro
o.rtr:geoJs However f someo. ",t woJ,d bF e^pe.s ve dnd
!. are selectively drafted ro join this trainifg for one year. The rationale ei.i.
ow. rorhe-ooporrriiars, treo,
she can work towards geti np the
for this prosram is to bond Malaysian yolrhs together with the
soat of rew..d(
i. creating a Ma aysian nation by increastng rac a integraiion and
&.

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 be
used as a weapon to create an issue of discrimination. An
avenue for preventing this issue from being manipulated would
be for the government to conduct a transparent investigations
and fair hearings.
Promotion in the party hierarchy is ri8id and difftcLrlt. UMNO is a
very structured party and members who aim to hold even
divisional leadership posts may take years to convince other
members aad leaders of their competence_ one way to advance
is if a member is supported by core leaders in the party; he or
she may then leap the stages of positions. IJMNO holds a party
convention once every three years to elect new members in the
party organization. Top positions rn the party are Lrnlikely to be
challenged, although it is constitutionally permissible; however
in a feudalistic society such behaviour is interpreted as
disloyalty and it co!ld lead to termination. UMNO leans toward
political reforms' in its party where most divisional level
positions are chosen through elections.
Furthermore, UMNO has certain procedures to select
candidates for election. Candidate selection within the party is a
rational top-down approach. lJsually the divlsion head wlll
recommend 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 rahe
issues in their meetings and they will be brought up to higher level
committees that are responsible for investigating complaints. The role
of ordinary members is atiendinB meetinSs held r the AGM (AnnuaL
Gen€ral Meeting) at the headquart€rs and divisional levels. The
convention or meeting is important because rhis is the time for
members to bring up their proposals or gr evances so thar they wi I be
revjewed and debated at th€ national level. However there are 'yes-
men'who will agree to everything the branch or division heads
suggest. A sliEht reform is arlsing in UMNO because tod.y members
are abie to speak thelr minds and any divisional complaints will be
investigated.
 \\'olfgadg Srchsenroeder (ed) Part] Poljrics in Southeasr Asia

the higher committee members at the party headquarters.

f The membership fee is nominal, RM2 per year and it is enforced
the assessment is convincing, then the candidate will be at each division in the partv. Additionallv, UMNO has stable
accepted. Factors for a candidate,s rejection include infamous financial sources from corporate businesses, a5 it has invested
image, arrogance, poor rapport or corruption, declared in publicly listed companies such as Merlin, paremba, Renong,
bankrupt, aziness, or any other shortcominB. lf the and Fleet Holdings (Jamaie ZOO5, Gomez 1990 & 1991, Jomo &
candidate is
acceptab e and the party,s leaders are confident that Gomez 1997). UMNO also receives donations from a few
he or she
can deliver, then he or she will be fielded as a companies su€h as the Shaw Brothers (19GOs and 1970s), tim
candidate.
Norrnally candidates come from the lower Goh Thong through Gentlng Berhad and Daim zainuddinss
ranks and mature
over the years from youth w ng to the (Foad, 1988; Fatini, 1997). Thus UMNO has stable financial
division level. During
that process they will attend public speaking courses; resources to manoeuvre the party,s activities and campaign
understand the history of UMNO as strategies. All f{rnds come from the party headquarters. ln
well as the historv of
oooos r'or, oro dlso w-o s who i- tne po,it (al addition the party has investments in publicly l5ted companies
sce1e. A I tn.s
learrrng tal,s yedrs oul ,n time when and donations collected from various sources that are taken
rhe canoioare shtne\, the
division head or the party leader will advance care of by the party treasurer. Monie5 donated to divisions or
that candidate.
-heoret'ca l\ p!erybodv has headquarters are managed by an :ppointed paTty treasurer and
a chance. b-r when the div.sion
hedd dis i^es so-neo1e tt lne pa,Ly, he is the party's financial report is audited internally to verify the
aole ro decimare that
person's,political career, even to the gressroots accounts. The audit teams are members who are qualified to
level, Training is
provided for new members. A member conduct the internal and externat audits. Their reports wil, be
will start from the yo;th
w ng where he or she may ho d a position sharedwith al membersof the partyand interested others.
at the division eve
such as youth leader, deputy, secretary, treasurer The privilege of being in power leads UMNO to use government
or
information chief. As a person progresses, he or
she will be agencies as a mechanism to sustain its power and influence.
noticed by lomeone and wil be recorhmended
to lead some Over fifty-three years, UMNO,s intention to manipulate
forrn of committee Based on this fact, the party government facilities to finance its e ectjon campaigns is well
does prepare
the next generation of leaders by assessing a member,s known. The invented perspective that government is UMNO
credentiaJs and contributions to the party. and UMNO is Bovernment allows such inconceivable actions to
Workshoos and
o oE amS ior po t5- ng revt eeder) a.e orgar,zed ta(e place. Government facilities such as pubic schoos and
wtthi.r the
party. During that period, anyone who
s seen to be a forcefLrl local government facilifles such as Majlis perbandaran (Town
leader over tlme will be nominated. The present Hall) are utilized for public talks and campaigns. Voters are
leader can
init ate the idea of replacement with the
majority or popu ar bribed with special gifts such as cash, borlk sorong56, a package
support of the members. Each party in the
Bar san has its owh
yoLrth, men's and women,s win8s.
They play major roles in the tt
core structure. The pEMUDA represents UMNO,S Daim Zainuddin was a former Finance Manister of Mataysia in 1984.
male youth,
PERGERA(AN WANTA and pLJTER] UMNO He was the man responsib e for expanding and strengthening
represent rhe bLrsine5ses for the paremba and F€et Hodngs. Expandlng these
wornen's wings, and both MIC and MCA
have the men,s and benef ited UMNO substantially (lamaie, 2OO5:130).
women's wings named pEMUDA and WANTTA
for MIC and MCA
respectlvely. 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 longer
ab e to influence voters, particularly in Kelantan where voters
accept gifts but do not vote for UMNO or Barisan in the end.
The states of l(e antan, Kedah and Penang aTe governed by the
Pakatan Rakyat opposltion coalition stnce the 2008 e ection and
many other states'representatives are from the pakatan.
UMNO has recorded to spend millions of ringgit
campaigns and this overspending is not subject to any legal
dec aration that cou d allow the discovery of dubious funds.
Throughout the party recordsr, on y a couple of members have
been ousted. For examp e, Anwar brahim was a mernber of
UMNO He was the second man to Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and
his influence chalenged Mahathir's relgn of power. AnwaT,s
press 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 melting
wax on the fabric lrefore d\1rA)t. See Haw to Tie a Majaysion Sorang,
by Melissa Leaman )anraty 21,2071
www.ehow.com/how 7857200,tie-malaysian-sarong.html
" Another case was Iengku Razaleigh Harnzah and a few UMNO
members ncuding Rais Yaiim, and Zalnal Abidin Zin who decided to
ex t from UMNO. Tengk! lnd his fol ow€rs res gned from the party
due to irreconcilab e differences with the parry teader, Dr Maharhir
Mohamad, and TenSku Razaleigh and his fo lowers decided to form
Semansat 46 (Wain, 2009). The Semangar 46 survtved for severa
years untl Razaeigh was persuaded by UMNO leaders to dissolve it.
After some years they were back with UVINO and disbanded the 546
party. Tengk! Raza eigh ls now the Barisan state representative for
Gua MusanB {a city and districr in Kelantan) and serves as an UMNO
loyalist Other members such a5 Ra s Yatlm. and Zainal Abidin Zin
returned to UMNO too and they pres€ntly ho d mtntste.ial posirtons.
Based on these incldents, a party member .an be dism ssed, but it
sedom 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 media
conference in the early 1990s was well-executed and
shocked
theUN4N0 elite. Anwar was able to rally support io
defeat
Abdul Ghafar Baba but he underestimated Mahathir,s
way of
shutting down his opponent. Some members thought that
Anwar lbrahim was too vocal in addressing money politics
and
corrupiion in the party because Anwar had done several
things
for to clean up party corruption, including establishing a
its committee
to combat corruption. At the 34th IJMNO Annual General
Meeting (AGM) in September, 1985 Anwar exposed politicians
in IJMNO who were condoning money poljtjcs to
buy votes and
threatening members as means of securing votes. Such
daring
steps and rndependent mind landed hlm a harsh
ounishment
wLien he was dismisqed due to a godomy dccJs;tion
il I99g dnd
imprisoned for six years (Muhammad Nadzri, 2OO9). Upon
his
release his wife, Wan Azi2ah, formed pafti (eadiian
Rakyat
{PKRI as a prompt response to a massive social movement in
support ofAnwar. Both are now strong pKR political figures.
lmportant leaders and their main contributions
Ailfive prime ministers of Malaysia so far are UMNO members.
The first was Tunku Abdul Rahman, and he was respected
and
recognized by the people as the Father of lndependence.
second prime minister was Tun Abd{r Razak and \i/as known
The
as
a Father of Development, The nation recognized his enormous
contrlbution to education ancl scholarship systerns, pubic
facilitles, and the Five,year plan of Economic Development
that
led to the establjshment of the Economic planning Unit,
etc. The
third prime minister was Tun Hussein Onn. He was nominated
as the Father of Unity based on his emphasis of uniting
all
government programs and reducing the polarization jn
socio_
economic status among races (Diane & Mauzy, 1999).
The fourth prime minister was Dr Mahathir IVlohamed.
He was a
natlonally innovative, creative and a critical charismatic leader
(Wain, 2009). He fulfi ed rhe meaning of deve opment
in all
asoects o! er ono^nv, polir'cc aro soc,ety ra,pecr.vely. He
was
IFe 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 world
leaders as a Third World Hero. His outspoken style to reposition
Malaysia as an independent country with an activist foreign
pollcy has made Dr N/lahathir lnfamous (Waln, 2009). He
championed issues of unequal impact of globalization to the
Third Word, and he was vocal in addressing coff icts in the
Middle'East and the hegemony of the USA (Wain, 2009). He
nvented many pollcies to empower the society includlng the
Look East Policy, Vislon 2020, privatlzation, etc. Despite his
pos tlve lmage and contributions, Mahathils era was marked as
an authoritarian regirne that committed severa human rights
vloations (Crouch, 1992; Khoo, 1995). During his era, the
lnternal Security Act of 1950 was frequenty used to detain
activists v/ithout due process. The Official Secrets Act of 1972
amended in 1986 was used as a means to prohiblt the
dlssemlnation of informatlon determined by the government as
classlfied that further nurtured nepotism ln the country and
made 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 been
blatantly used to abuse citizens or demonstrators who gathered
peacefuly. Flnaly the Printlng Presses and Publications Act of
1984 was used to deny icenserenewa to newspapers includlng
Hardkah and Suoro Keadilon, thus llmlting freedoms of the
press and speech (Khoo, 1995;Jesudason, 1995).
Addltlonally, the concentration of an effective decislon-making
authority at the nationa leve is in the hands ofthe executive
branch and committee members ofthe parLlament. All decisions
are discussed and votes of a 2/3 majority are required in order
to pass as legislatlon. The interaction between party and
parl amentary groLrps ls cose, considering that most senior
party 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 upper
and lower houses of parliament are strongly connected. The
Party potirics in Southeast Asia
Executive power was excessively used during Dr
Mahathir,s
tenure when it was used arbitrariy to terminate six judges
including the former lord president Salih Abbas, Azmi
Kamaruddin, Eusoffe Abdoolcader, Wan Hamzah Mohamed
Sllleh, Wan Suleiman pawanteh, and George Seah
(Ma aysiakini, 18 Aprjl 2O0g). Moreover executive power
was
used to convince the majority of the house of representatjves
to
amend the constitution that removed the immunity
of the
traditional Sultans who are now subject to legal litigation
for
any wrongdoing.
ln fact, in 1999 rnost Malay voters were unhappy with
Dr
Mahathir's way of handling the Anwar lbrahim case.
his former
deputy, The manner of Anwar,s ouster and indictment for
homosexuality (which is punishable under Malaysian law)
other sexual misdemeanours before the courts tarnlshed Dr
and
Mahathir charismatic image. Mahathir was ca led to resign
by
the masses and pu6lic protests by thousands of people on the
streets marked a gloomy history besides the 1969 racial
riots.
Anwar s il ,treatment while under police custody was exposed
when he appeared in his first court case with a black eye.
The
government denied any conspiracy to assault Anwar,
but latea a
police inquiry revealed that the lnspector
General of police (lGp)
had confessed to assauking Anwar while Dr Mahathir accused
Anwar of self-infiicted injury and denied instructing the
lcp to
assaut 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,s
Lr:al l Apr;l 1999 ard se'ltenceo h.n ro s.^ ye.-).mpr.so..renr
on charges of having misused his authority to cover up
allegations of sexual misconducr (Cheah, 2OO2). Mahathi.,s
popular politicat quote ,1 did it my way,,
has labelled him an
authoritarian leader (Khoo, 1995).
The fifth prime minister was Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who
served as foreign minister in Mahathir,s administration before.
In terrns of service, he served the fewest years of all prime
Ministers. He was known as the main contributor to the conceoi

wolfgaig Sachse,roeder (ed)
of lslom Hodhdti'! where the emphasis was given to inte8rating
this concept into all aspects of human and national
deve opment The sixth and also the current prime minister is
Naj b Tun Razak. He took office in 2008 and has been trying
hard to build his own reputation awBy from his late father, who
was the second prime minister of Malaysia. Najib introduced
l!,e lMdloysio5'initiatlve that has been mocked by the
opposition as an empty vessel that acks the power of national
unity.Past leaders were viewed by most respondents as far-
sighted, with forceful political wills. As a result, UMNO under
prevlous leaders had a profound track record that helped
maintain malority support oJ N,lalays wlthin its party. However
time plays an important role in evaluating recent voting declines
for UMNO. ln the past, th€ level of education of most people in
this country was stll Low and illteracy was still high in rura
areas. Past generations were easily impressed with a few
educated people and ascribed to their political agendas. Now
the increased numbers of the middle class population result in
crltcal vlews on the government. New demands for good
rs
Ihe word "Hadhari" denotes "the civilazed," and it focuses on the
aspects of lslam that accenruate civilired society. ln English, the term
most appropnEte for the word would be "civilizational lslam," and its
eq!vaent n Arabc, "a1-lsam al Hadhari." UKM has an lnsttute
called lslam Hadhari that s responsible for promoting civilizational
ls 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.ust
among dlfferenl ethnic groups. This mutual understanding could be
trans ated nto programs and po cies. The lMalaysia slogan ls a warm
rem nder to all that the nat on feeds all Sroups to work to8ether, even
thou8h they may i'rgree lo disagree," in order to promoie their
common 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 iheir
rights 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 targetgroup
The 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
@
FELDAstandsfor 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 the
development, 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 appear
on anv medla. The oppostion parties have to channel their
resolutions through alternative meda such as internet blogs
and their own newspapers,
Poitical party campaigns are propagated daily and official
campaigns 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 their
campalgns 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 to
people. some candidates organize an event with performers to
entertarn the audiences and give away free gifts to people who
attend the campaigns. Ths strategy brings huge crowds to
UMNO'5 political talks and attracts voters to listen to their
politicalagenda.
Carrpaig' tact'c' i_c ude houre to-5ouse carrpaigns, open
campaigns, onl ne and media campalgns, which are normal
processes. Usually the target groups are the ladies or
housewives 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 allowed
to 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 this
creates 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
based
on a formula that requires deliberate and careful assessment
from each component party, The BN formula is dynamic
and
may change conditionally depending on emergent political
situations. First and foremost, the BN will establish
understandin8 and tolerance among its component parties.
Althou8h mutual understanding and tolerance may be
the
cr reria for delermining seats for e.ect.ols, U\,4\O
nas the tinal
say for the seat6L a ocation lMohd Foad Sakdan, I997).
Political culture in UMNO
Patron-client relations are a fundamental element in
the
political culture in Malaysia. The political leaders are
masters of
subordjnating members. Members give their loyalty and
they
are obliged to their leaders. Although it is limited within
the
Barisan, it nonetheless creates a league of its own
in terms of
patronage. Money politics has been highlighted
by scholarly
research (Gomez, 1991; Jamaie, 2OOS). The forms
of money
politics inclLrde vote buying, corporate and
individual sponsors
to candidates that will promote the corporate/individual
interests, 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 (from
UMNO, l\,1CA, MtC, Gerakan, etc.) is not strong rn a constituency
or
does not dominate the race, thei BN wi allocate a seat
that a tows
another race to assist in seclring the winning seat. However,
if a
constituency is dominated byrhe Chinese communities that
DAP supporters, tBN is willing to sacrifice a candidare
are strong
from any of it;
components slch as UMNO or IvlC to avoid MCA tosing that
seat in
parliament. BN witt put the MCA candtdate in.
strong Malay UMNO
area, the.eby allowing the MCA candidate to win and secure
a seat in
Parliament or the State. Furthermore, if a constituency
has a 50-50
chance of being won by BN, then BN wi plr a candidate
from any of
its 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 for
offences 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 the
party's d scip inary board announced its findings. In the last two
cases, 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 corrupt
practice, 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'Mr
clean" 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 not
in a position to dispense patronage may not guarantee a
winning position in the party. Such factionalism is common
among political parties that have been in power and dominant
for so long. ln fact, UMNO has a rule where no contests are
allowed for the top two posts in UMNO, therefore, money
politics are manoeuvred among members for other
central
positions in the party (Anil Netto, 2004).
Nepotism in business and politcs is also central in the oolitical
culr.rre. Anyone related by blooo o. close to the co.e potiLical
leaders such as siblings, relatives, and close friends, friends of
friends, party members, and networks will enjoy the privileSe of
nepotism. Favouritism is paramount when it comes to families
and friends networking across all races in the Barisan,63
However, developments are progressing in Malaysia because
the structures are get$ng more accountable,
Candidate snatching is peculiar to the political culture here, and
candidate hopping from one party to another is common. The
usual scenario is that a representative from the opposition party
wins the election on either federal or state level and he or she
suddenly leaps to the Earlsan party for reasons such as money
politics, 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.
I
e in.srer ot Vd dy< a, \ajib AboL qa/c( ]']e(on
ls fo lowing his faiher's careeri Abdul Razak,s other sons ako hotd ioo
rd,lk -g pos flon, rr r..ar (ia 1.riruro1. and o,sinexes. T e thrro
Prime lvlinister, Tun Hussein Onnt son, Hhhamudjn Hussein, now
holds 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 a
leader in PEN/UDA UMNo. The fifrh prime Minister, Datuk Abdutah
Badawi, dec ded to retire earty but has a son in the Aircraft business
and 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 candidates
hopping after the 2008 genera elections. ln Perak, the Pakatan
Rakyat coalition \,!on 31 seats as compared to BN's 28 seats.
This razor-thln victory gave rise to a new form of BN
manipulation,6a
Dating back to th s actual crisis, the talk of elected
represent.t ves jumping parties was started by the Pakatan
leader, Anwar brahim, soon after the March 8, 2OO8 general
e e.tion. There the BN lost its two-thirds majority and some five
states to the opposltion. Anwar declared ihat he had as many
as 30 members of parl ament in his fold and that they would
cross over to the Pakatan Rakyat. Anwar predicted that the BN
government wou d fa by september 16, 2008. As a matter of
fact the dates began changlng based on where he hed his
ral ies. However, the situation was reversed because The Sultan
of Perak and the 3 independent state assemblymen declared
thelr support to the ruling BN, thus paralyzing the Pakatan
attempt to retain power ln Perak as we I as to form a Pakatan
government in parliament.Regardless of criticism and crises, the
goveTnance of the E ection Commission Malaysia, the agency
6o
rormer pera <
Menterl Besar N zar Jamaluddin launched his book
I I ed Perak: A Stdte al Crisli ln Dec€mber 12, 2010. He revealed that
the loss of Pakatan led Perak government was due to the
i manlpulations of the BN who kidnapped three Pakatan
I repr€sentat ves and then lllegally dec ared that they had the nrajority
which allowed them to form the state of government with the support
of the Perak Sutan Three representatives from Pakatan chose to
i.
beconre ind-.pendents .nd declared their support for the ruling BN
i ncludirg lamaLrddin Mohd Radzi (PKR state representatlve from
rt Behrang), Mohd Osman.laiLu (PKR state representative from Changkat
I lering) and Hee Yit Foong (DAP state representative from lelapang).
t After the crossovers, the BN seat count was st I 28, whi e Pakatan was
reduc€d to 28 seats with three independents supporting BN. See,
Hazlan Zakaria. Nizar hlt at book launch on 8N's Perak takeover.
l December 12, 2010 at malaysiakin .com/news/150632
&
H
Pady Politics ln Souihedl Asia
that is responsible to conduct the election for federal and state
levels, ls good. The agency has organized technical regulations
for pre- and post-processes of the election. lf disputes regarding
the voting system occur, the process for recount wlll be done
following a court order (Kartini, 2009). The electoral systems are
accountable to the Election Act of 1958. There was a reform to
the electoral system in 2OO0 (the loth election) where
gerrymandering was implemented to reconstruct the dlstrict
lines. The n€w dlstricts were identified and districts voting pro-
government were given more seats in parliament than districts
that were strong suppoTters of opposition parties. Thus,
gerrymanderlng has been criticlzed for being discriminatory
through invalidation on the grounds of population equality.
Another reform attempt was to introduce the permanent lnk
starnp 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 the
government and this mechanism was discarded (Kartini, 2009).
Public relations and general image
The Barisan controls most rnedia including newspapers and
television. UMNO owns Ut.rson Malaysio and it has a strong
influence over Berito Horidn and New Strait Times, and MCA
owns the stor newspapers and is also very influeniial toward
other chlnese printed media. Moreover, BN's well connected
business people such as Vlncent Tan and Ananda Krishnan also
own private newspapers and television networks, glving BN the
edge to be pop!lar on media. lt is normal for po itlca parties to
befriend journalists and some medla pe.sonalities are clearly
sympathetic to political parties. For lnstance, RTM (Roncangon
Televisian Maloysia) is owned by the government; whoever
leads the government will have the dominant support from
RfM. Other television stations (ry3. TV9, NfV7, Astro) need lo
apply and renew their licenses, and a few lmportant poljtlcal
figures are stakeholders in the medla. 0bviously support for the
Barisan government is paramount. The public relatlons arm of
the 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, empowering
unity among races and many more highlight UMNO and Barisan
po icies. The visibi ity of Barisan is obvious before and during
the election. Media coverage wiil highlight the Barisan image as
PoPUlist.
N/ledia became subservient to and compliant with the rullng BN
after the incldent of medla clarnpdown in 1987. The star, the
Sin Chew Jit Poh and a Malay bi-weekly, the Woton, had their
llcenses revoked in 1987 The press was taking sides in their
coverage of the Chlnese education issue. This issue escalated
nto ethnlc tenslon and the rnedia was blamed for stirring racial
prejud ce between the dominant Malay party (UMNO) and
Chlnese parties, the MCA and the opposition DAp. The
government decided to take control thrcugh operosi Lolong in
which poice arrested 106 citizens under Section 73 of the
lnternal Securitv Act (lSA). Aso, prime Minister Mahathir
exercised his powers as Home Minister under Section 8 to
formal y ssue two'year ISA detention orders for 49 Malaysians,
including six prominent DAP members of par lament including
Karpa 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 ications
Act of 1984 provldes vast powers to the Home Minister to grant
or to wlthdraw printing icenses. This act wa5 amended in 1987
and it further curbed the freedom of the Press. For exampe,
Section 8 A(2) presumes the published material to be maliclous
lf the \,!riter cannot prove that he or she had taken reasonable
measures 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 to
RM20,000, or both, Lrpon convlction. Llnder this bil ,
app ications for all prlnting and publishlng lcenses aTe made
year y, and the Horne Affalrs Mln ster has an absolute power to
suspend or revoke a icefse or permlt, with no obligation to give
a reasons. ln addition, this bil also gives power to ihe
government to controi the tmport of foreign publications that
are percerVed aS prelLrd cla to nat onal interest, public order
Pady potitics in Soulheast Asia
and bilateral relations (Wang Lay l<im, 2OO1). Therefore, the
opposition parties have to channel their alternative rnessages
through the internet and independent newspapers that are
accountable to the Official Secrets Act of 1972, the printing
Presses and publication Act of 1984, the Sedition Act
of 1948,
and Maaysian Communications and Multjmedia Commission
Act of 1998. The government uses these statutes to revoke
the
publication license of independent media that
is determined
within its interpretation to be subversive or threateninB the
de icate balance of racial unity. However, advanced inform;tion
technology has mitigated this information monopoly among the
Bar,san members. The internet has become an information
gateway that provides alternative ways for rebuttal of
accusations made by the government against the opposition
Parties.
While the national media are under BN,s control. an
inte'nJfio-al (overage ,or B\ wds qu'te o.ofound. .o. instance,
4s/anleek magazine in 2001 praised and acknowledged Dr
Mahathir's leadership that had brought pride to the Malaysian
peopie for the country's achievements. Dr
Mahathir was
further addressed by Asioweek magaztne as the man
responsible to turn the country from an almost exclusive
agricu 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 be
categorlzed into three groups. Loh (1982) described the first
group as containing members that retained strong relations
with the Peoples Republic of China. The second group havlng
the largest membership of all were solely interested in business,
Chinese culture ancl traditional matters. Finally the third
eroup
consisted of Chinese peop e who were born in Ma aysia, viewed
Nlalaysia as their home and carecl for the socio,Dolitical
devetoo-nent o, Ma avs'a. -,adrLiolal Chire5e pohl.(s be.ore
1949 led to the absence of unity in representing Chinese,s
issues at the national level. Although the Dewon perniogoan
 party potitics in Southeasl
Wolfsang Sachsenroeder (ed) Asia

The second internai crisis occurred in 1972_1973. The soerk of

Clro (Chinese Buslness Chamber) and Dewon Perhimpunon Cind
tne cr sis began when MCA won onlv t3 oLt of :l seats in
(The Chinese Assemb y Chamber) exlsted to care for the welfare rne
1969 parliamentary election as compared to 27 seats in
and deve opment of the Chinese community, both chambers 1964.66
Moreover, the race riot on lvlay 13,h, 1969 and the declaration
were inadequate to gain political positions at the nationa level
of a state emergency impacted MCA tremendously, leaving
(Means, 1991). Consequently, MCA was established on February the
parLV hall dead due ro dectr,]ing public
21, 7g4g as a political party that represented the Chinese auoport parucular'y fro,n
the.na,o.'Ly ol Malayr (qo, 1984). T1e Ioss ano lhe decl;ne
communitv in Malaysla (Lim, 1971). At the beginnlng, MCA
created a setback for MCA. ln addition, the enactment
started as a we fare and lottery agency that provided assistance of
Art,cje 127 ol the pa.ly regulario'ls prolon8ed Lhe crjsis.
to the Chinese comrnunity. MCA managed to convince UMNO Th;s
ar lrcle granred r he oarty presidelt
and Mlc to be part of the Barisan Naslonal government and this d:sc.eLiolar/ powe. to fi.e or
derounte ary merrDers o, MCA at a. pa-ry levels.,'
coal tlon has con5istently supported each other. Over the years,
The cyce o[ c,ises seen s to be oerlciou) i1 MCA.
the coalition has won the most seats combined in parliament Anotner
party crisis emerged in 1977 when Lee Siok yew
s nce 1959 unti present. was forced by
Nevertheless, MCA experienced turbulence throughout its
evolutlon. The first internal crisis in IvICA was in 1958 when Tun e)-promoting an educationat mana8ement system that wil work
Tan Cheng Lock and Dr Lim Chong Eu objected to each other's efficiently aid effectivety. The report was meant to reinforce
ideologies, !eading to a schlsm in the party Two groups of communal harnrony and integration. See Tham Seong Chee. (1979).
supporters were formed, the O d Guards and the Young Turks. lssues in Malaysian Educarion: past, present and Future.
/ourrol of
The former was abellecl too soft and too tolerant with the a,on St,rd,e5_vot. r0r2r. po.r21 350.
::uth"o*
)ee a reoo4 preparFd by rhe treLtion Commi.son
pollcles introduced by UMN0 that resulted in disadvantages to par'ram-1tar,, or the
lDewcn R;kyarl and S-are _Fg.sldr ve Assemb.y C"nerat
the Chinese cornmunity. The Latter claimed to be sympathetic
ElFct.ons ot _9o9 . the Srales of M.taya Saod. aro Sard.,r'ak.
and promoted agendas for improvlng the chlnese edr.rcational Dresenf), ti^ee.F(rior
sears"radivoeo arongea!, componenr p.ny
system, emphasizing the use of the Chinese anguage in n BN whe,e rhe quota of serrs i, va.ied dpperding o,l ihe situat,on.
learning, and securing the lnterests of the Chinese communlty '0I a.drrole, gerrymdade.lnS .s J<.o ro o,5troite seats n a
To ron out this dlfference, an internal party election was held constituency favorabty for BN. However, in
1969, the approximate
and Turr Tan Cheng Lock lost. The los5 was a result of quota for parliamentary seats a tocated for
UMNO, MCA. MtC was
dlsapprovaJ among party members on educational issues 60:30:10. The totat parliamentary seats in the 1969
etection were 144
65(On8, s-o.r5 B\ wol 9s ,.ats. wri.e rhe oooos,L,or worl 45
V nted in Laporon Rozak 1991) se"is 1r.e
V05dm. dd Nor Ort,-dr & <hawa (a-tam. 2008.201,
" lh.5 r-b r dry L e wa- oLr -o tFsL p.rr.y oresrdenr D . L,rr Ke,lg
" Laporan aazak was ertabLished by Tun Abdll Razak in 19s6. Tun vail a- oJn!eo his rrre,lnol (t^at ^hej
Razak set up an Education Conrmittee and reconrmended several
ro e.gF Trr s ew Sin. VCA presrdenr
.esLltngrr hrs re..rra-ior T.Js. D \jik io joir
i changes ln the edu.ational system. His proposal was articuLated in the parti GERA(AN. L.ter thai year, Datuk
L.m Keng oecrded
i Education Ordnance of 19s7. The changes incud€d a)makins the Lee San Choon became very
I oopJtr among ^lemoer9 ol MCA dao tis ooput.-lry .o-cio -"1 Srew
Malay languase a national LanBUa8e, thereby establishing a common
I
n schools, b)strengthening unitv among the Malays,
s. to re(8. ". . pre.'de-t. t,onrc" v. rj1 Si- Lsed
I anglrage
Chines€ and ndians; c) deve oping an educational svst€m that wi I
dete- o.dtir8 hea.rh .o"d r 01 .5 dn er. r_e ro te.
S.Fw
Bo or hi- oos Lror ds
d

9r the MCA president.

f. 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
k
 Wolisang Sachsenroeder (ed)
Lee San Choon to Teslgn frorn his portfolio as the health
minister 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 the
party 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 combined
politics 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 to
expel MCA from the a iance if MCA falled to resolve its lnternal
,ffalrs An interventlon from anotheT of UMNO's rank and flle
members, 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
t
Pady Politics in Southeasl Asia
speculated stock market actvities in lVulti purpose Holding
Berhad {NIPHB). Tan (oon Swan was arrested and charged with
crlminal breach of trust; he pleaded gu ty, was sentenced to
two years in prison and was fjned of S50O,OOO. As a convicted
felon, he was forced to resign from ivlcA. The office of MCA
president was assigned to Ling Liong Sik, who was Minister of
Tra.\porI a1e. r're 1986 e'eclion (Vreans, 1991).
Years after the storm of Tan (oon Swan, the party is still
struggling with its internal affairs, particular y involving
competing interest and clashes of attitude among party leaders
rather than ideo ogical conflicts. The zigzag progress in l\4CA
occuTTed again after the bad results of the 2008 general
eection. MCA never had expected to lose so badly in this
election and it was exasperatin8 to al MCA members. MCA
members claimed to have worked so hard under the leadership
of President Dr. Ong Ka Ting. persistent internal struggles within
the party tarnished,its image to the public, especially to the
Chinese community that viewed MCA as unable to become the
voice of the Chinese. Of 46 seats assjgned to MCA only 15 won
seats in the parliament. Many issues Lrndermining MCA faiLed to
be addressed openly. Thus, MCA sought to resolve the issues
through the Barisan mechanism. For instance. an issue on the
ntroduction of the subject Ntalaysia Negaraku Level 1 (Nly
Country Malaysia Leve 1) with the use of the Malay language as
the teaching medium was opposed strongly by Dong Jiao Zong
(a Chinese Education Management Board Organl2ation). ln
addition, Dong Jiao Zong also opposed to extra school hours
spent for teaching the Malay anguage Leve l proposed bythe
government because thls proposal was against the objective of
Chinese anguage based schoo s.
Another issue was corruption involvjng top party leaders in
2010. MCA was dealing with the port Kelang Free Trade Zone
(PKFZ) scandal when its top,ranked politicians were involved
wlth a company called i(ua a Dimensi Sendirian Berhad (KDSB).
The dlsclosure revealed that there were lrregularities in clalms
made by KDSB, with amounts ranging from RM5O0 million to
RM1 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 the
term "donation." t shou d be noted that in Malaysia it is
unethical for any mrnister to accept po itlcal donations unless
they are made pubLicly transparent. This corrupt practice had
been hidden frorn pub lc know edge and the widespread news
was rampant when it became public. MCA under President Dr
Ong Tee Keat was under investlgation and this issue was used
by opposition partles to gear up their political attacks on
corruptlon 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 public
dlstrust in the leadership of MCA. His application for
membershlp renewal was rejected by party Presldent Dr Ong
Tee Keat on a basis of a moral issue. However, Dr Chua's
confession of his adultery granted him a huge platform for
publ c apology, as well as pardon by family and party members.
Dr Chua became an MCA member again and chailenged the
incumbent party president, Dr Ong Tee Keat and Ong Ka Ting
(former MCA president before Ong Tee Keat) in the 2010
presidentlal election for MCA. Dr Chua garnered 901votes and
was declared a w nner, His nearest challenger was Ong Ka Ting
who received 833 votes, whlle incumbent party president Dr
Ong Tee Keat gained on y 578 votes.
Notlng the interm ttent dissension between the President and
Vice 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 and
mot vated mernbers. As such the President must be able to unite its
members A rtrong leadership B crucial to MCA. lf factions occur
wthin the pany, MCA wl have difflculty winnng the Chlnese
vita to MCA, as it has conrpelling
community. Publc perception s
competitors, such as GERAKAN and DAP. GERAKAN ls a mainly
Chlfese'based paty whch ls also in aliance wth the Barlsan.
However, DAP ls a sociaiin party that opens its menrbership to other
races. Lnterestingly DAP consistr mainiy of Chinese and few other
races. The strong centra power and hierar.hlcal ord€r feaiured in
MCA portray ths party as ! structured orgafization. lnteraction
Pany Potitics in Sourhealt Asia
Presenily, a few prominent figures in MCA have established
their own groups of supporters. For instance, chua soi Lek and
Ng 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 these
factions are competing over power, opinion, and personality as
central membeTs of MCA that will care for the Chinese
community's interests. For instance, in the opinions and power
struggles between senior and junior members, Ong Tee Keat
is
viewed by most members as arrogant, However, factionalism
within the party can be pui aside when it comes to general
e ections. MCA mernbers are willing to remain united despite
differences Lrnderlying members, interactions.
Ihe Barisan mechanism refers to the po i€y that members of the
coalition may seek opinions from its allies to ov€rcome a
problem. The Barisan parties decided not to get involved
but to
express their concein over this issue, believing that MCA would
be able to handle its interna affairs fairly. MCA views itself as
partner to UMNO and MIC and not in any way subservient
to
them. MCA emphasizes the historical contribution made by
previous MCA eaders to the independence of Malaya in
1957 as
eqLra ly important to UMNO. Therefore, MCA resoects the
allegiance wirh prooer cons,derariol to MCA as e partner ratner
than a follower of UMNO or MIC. This bold statement from the
current MCA president deems him invaluable to MCA members
as well as to the Chinese community.
From the beginning of the coa ition among UMNO, MCA and
MlC, 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 to
preserve unity among its members. The chain of command in MCA
is
top down and members are likety to compty with rhe centrat
committee. A cofflict between teaders normaly involves the president
and hls deputy president.
 pady potitics in
$ olfgang Sachse.roeder (ed) Southealr Asra

perceptions viewed MCA as an UMNO subservient. Today, the must ensurc that no singe g-oJo cdn ma\e
decisions w.thouL
Chinese community basically wants to see MCA to have more lhe consent ol the otners. -hJs a,l
Broups have equal access to
po itical strength, so that the Chinese are able to share as equal pol I cal power ano resources necessary
Lo gove.n the stdte.
partners with LJMNO on a unlted team. lf there is a prob em in rhls colcepl Llds inrroduceo bV Areld LUpl.art
11969, 19t7,
MCA it wi I affect UMNO, and vice versa. lf MCA is viewed as 1991) and it is known as consensus or consociation
democracy,
subservlent, the cooperatlon is not genuine and the Chinese MCA (onstders rhat rhe coal;r,on .s imponanl
to J diverse gtatF
community wil assume that MCA is weak in voicing the feelings <e Md aVsta ard thar none coulo w:n wirho.rt
t')tpgrating othe.
of the Chinese community. [VCA members believe that if UMNO politjcal parties that represent each community.
Thus MCA
prefers MCA to delver votes to Barisan, then UMNO shou d be arlerpls to (eep irs mage re pa.tner to UMNO and M.C
as
able to allow MCA's leaders to have their own stand on issues r.tacl as pos1,ble, Aiter Vea15 .n power ,n rne Barican
pertaining to securlng the Chinese interest. f UMNO llmlts the government, MCA has built a good image
because MCA is the
space for MCA to present the Chlnese lnterest, then this owner of the Nonyong Siong pou and Stor
newspapers.
lmitation should be removed substaniia ly because the Chlnese A though a solid party image will always
be the task of partisan
now have other Chlnese-based politica parties that are bo d newspapers, undermining conflicts in McA are never
secret but
enough to chalenge the aliance between MCA and UMNO. are addressed only in a modest tone, Thus, these
newspapers
Although MCA members claimed that they are speakers for the are abie to increase numbers of readers, Furthermore,
a steady
Chinese community and acknow edge that competing interests income from several powerful investment
resources such as
exlst among a liances, the nationai interest comes first, The \/ult Purpose Holo rgs Berhad (MplB), Lhe A/o nyong Sl.,ng pou
formu a to uphold the country's interests and what is best for .nd rhe 5tol newspaoe-5, and Genti.tg Ae,nad;. j,ants
VCI
the country seem to be the underlyjng phl osophy that bolsters 8'eat Inalciat secu.jy .nvesr.rents of memoe.s in seve.al
the alliance needed to maintain peace and stabil tV. private 'ndusrnes have bee- a p,a.tice :n
MCA s.nce 197Os
UMNO was criticized by MCA members for lts arbitrary use of {l,4eans. I99-i). Possersing stronB ,ina1cia, security prov,des
a
power when an announcement on history education becomlng nJge opoo'tu.itV,o. VCA Lo manage the pa.ty.s
a.rivit;es:nd
a compulsory subjeci in schools was announced pub icly in the campaigns. Such income is vital for the party,s
longevity. A
2010 UMNO Annual General Meetlne wlthout proper professional aLlditor is hired by MCA
to crosscheck financial and
procedure. Such a suggestion shou d have been brought to the transactional activities at the central and
divisional levels.
par lament to be discussed among ts members, then to the Auditing is necessary to avoid money politics or
dubious sources
Ministry of Education level before the announcement was o1s'19 t.o.n ini de the parly. TLe p.act:ceq of t,dngpa.enLy
alo
made. MCA members expressed that their past eaders were volJnl"ry di5cl05ure are eqcerrial fo, \,4CA,s surv
va. Bes.des
among the founding fathers that established N4alaysia as it ls
6e
now. Over the years MCA has gone through raln and shine with Genting Berhad was founded by Lim Goh Tong in
1965. lt is the
the al iances and it suggests that the concept of power sharlng investment holding and m.nagement company
of Genting croup. The
needs to be redeflned; an equal power sharing among alliances
.o^trarv wds incorpordteo L.de. r.e Conprnies A .tO
t 196c o1 JLty
968 L 'd,, lhe o-E rat .ar e o. Genrin8 _
needs to erTrerge. PoweT Sharlng StructLlres requlre two or more Chtdnd- dore, >on. Bho. Lo
ooe,die d hote
groups with dlfferent ethnic backgrounds to combine thelr "rd.an.o. a1d to deretop an,rreg,rred roursl
comple\ 1 Gerthg F'8h,ar d(. M. .r a. -he rompary
efforts to jointy rue the cornmon polity and to make hrs e,pdndFo
to oalm or,, e e,gv,uppr/. papo. ma.JtacrLr ng. see
consensua decisiofs Wlthin this power structure, the coalition d"rd . "r, trp.,/www ge-r., g..om/gro roorof,,e/go._rm
 \vollsang Sachsenroeder (ed) party potiiics in Soufieast
Asia

strong financial practices, MCA applles democratic processes in New recruits must understand right to
the core what it means
ro be a mernoer of MCA. A9 a rnatrer
recruiting members to be elected to commlttees at the division, of !act, t.atn;ng helps 1ew
branch, and centra eve s. Cddets undersrand the party,s nrJggtes. phirosophV,
vaJues, and
MCA has contrlbuted much to securing the Chinese interests in oestre 1o pur ihe natlon;t inte,err
dt Ine top ol r1e pa,ty,s
the 61 years since its establishment. lt is a large party with more rhis hisn va,ue sytte,n ensJres party Jnity
than a mil on members. The size of the membership resu ted 19T1". "l:'d::r.
wrthrn MCA. 'frhe parry,s spl.t and members haue no cear.
from a structured party feature. Each branch, division and unde.sld'1ding o, the pa,Lv.s value cystem.
then it defeats the
centra level consists of layers of committee members. As such pJ'pose o'havng MCA ds a po,:rica
odrty representjng the
it would take years for a member to cLimb into a higher posltion C hinese
in the party, even when most positlons in the party are assigned
through election. Members are ob iged to obey party ru es and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (pAS)
regulatlons, and if members fe t that they are no longer able to
Parti slam SeN4alaysia (pAS)was esiablished
fol ow the eader, they are al owed to leave voluntarlly. Attitude in penang in 1951.
clashes or competing lnterests between leaders and comm ttee
Since its establishmen! pAS has been governed
,^","1:l
by seven
members or leaders and ordinary members are something d,ve.se academrc odcksroJnds. Tuan Guru Haji
:nl
t"'9 Hassan (.1951 19s3) Dr Abb.s E,ras (.res3
common ln a big organization like MCA. There are bad leaders :::"i
and good eaders, and many have come and gone as they ur 6Jha'1udd.n At-HetmV (1956-.1969). _a1 Sri Dato r9s6i,
Hj. Asr:
pleased througho!t MCA's party eadership history. But a loyal Muda (1969-1982). Tuan Ha,. yJsof Rawa
{fSa:-tSSSt, Oito H;.
Fadzil Noor (1988,2002), and Dato Serti
member wil stay put no matter how bad the leader is. rldd. Awan€ (2002 luan Guru Hj. Abdut
N/laintaining such a posli ve attltude encourages MCA to provide unrrl presert). pAS,s po,irical agenda., to
party educaton where a lot of new cadets are sent for lorm al lslomic starp ba\eo on 5rnnoh,
the no.y euron. and
train ng.70 A I new rnembers are requlred to attend this training. ,nhod {con)ensus amolg erpe,ts on o,sputed :s(ues). .lhese
elemenrs are mednr ro orov,de justice
and equality to a,
ttrorgh the Jnive.sal aLceoLance of.ro.atrty and ohiiosopny,
'" ttowever, after the 2008 general eiection approximate v 500 The movement of pan lslamism in the Middle
fast lej by
members eft MCA to ioii Pakatan. ln fact, younger Chinese are Jdmduddi_ Al-Atg'tali i.tsp'red pASs
ootircrl dgenda and
ideaistic and they tend to be anti esiablishment, conslnent y motive\ d.rr-g the BjiLisn i']rer!enr.o.r erd (1874,t957J.
critlczing the present government of a sorts of wrong-doinB. This Mosr
schoiars that received their academic
perc€ption among young voters has dissLraded them from jointng education in the Middle
ln9'a came oack [o Mataya w,rh rhe ,dea
MCA Furthermore, the structured party feature may d sco!rage ::,s.1 :1d o. e1d ng
BIlt'\h ru e by rsirg approaches Ihar ,nJo reo Malay,
Chlnese youth from loinlng MCA knowing that a young parry menrb€r
loea o' '_deoende-ce {(anarJzdnan
w,t- rre
would have lo mult p y h s or her eflorts to climb to a h gher position & Moho Ljol,, 2OO9).
Theso )cLota s, ta.tpd uloma, !Jlaged
in the party organizaton. A member may need to be elected from Lo trr,uence most ol tle
division to branch, from branch to state, and then from nate to the
lvlalayr'a_ (o11mJ-'ry bV forn ng
I o,gar:zat,o.s. relig.o-5
central comm ltee. Even at ihe central comrn ttee evel, a member has s('oo ), and commLn ry cenL.e( oased o. .dears
of a peacefL.
to go throu8h al n.ges wiihin the centra election ir order to be w-ay to revolution, These organl2ations,
schools, and community
elected. lf a member is supponed or favored by party eaders, then centres combined their resources and
efforts to fafin lkhwan
the member may skip these stag€s ro be selected from the rank and Muslimin, an organization located in Gunung
Seman8gol in the
i
t-
 wolfgans sachsenroeder (ed)
federal staie of Perak. Thelr leaders lnclude Abu Bakar Bakir,
Rash d Maidin, Abdu ah Sidi, and Shamslah Fakeh who were
later label ed as commLrnlst members. During this era, the anti-
communlst movement was essential to the British and their
efforts to regain and sustain po$rer throughout lts colonies,
Knowing that lkhwon Muslinin was comprised af many ulomo
that promoted the ldea of lndependence and who were willing
to collaborate wlth the communist party in the early 1950s, thus
the British disbanded lkhwon Muslimin_ As a tesu t, numbeas of
PAS eaders cum lkhwon Muslimin members were arrested and
detained. PAS was foTced to regroup its members and several
vocal eaders were championed, includlng Zulkifli Mohamad and
Dr Abbas A ias ((amaruzaman & Mohd Fadti, 2009).
Since its establishment in 1951, PAS has always been seen as an
ls amist party aiming to establish an slamic state. However,
PAS'S politica strategles have been flexibe in an atternpt to
galn support from the people. During its struggle for
lndependence, PAS spoke out on issues of Malaysian poverty,
ack of health care, stigmatization of peasants, and in most
areas against tin rnines and rubber plantations owned bV the
Britlsh and other non-Maiays. Thus PAS's strategy to strengthen
N4a aysian nationa lsm and sentiments paid off. pAS has been
able to continuoLtsly revamp and rejuvenate its strategy,
conformlng to the contemporary needs of the commu11ity and
thereby gaining a strong politica advantage (Kamaruzaman &
Mohd Fad i,2009)
Most peop e who join PAS are individuals that believe lslam
provides ways to protect the state's rnost impoverished and
repressed cltlzens. Most active members are willing to sacrifice
money, time and energy to fight together with PAS leaders in
order to strengthen the party. Dating back through several
general elections, PAS has been marginallzed in the federal
pariament. Motivaton to loin PAS may not derive from
material ownershlp or sociai status, but it secures an
individua'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 full
knowledge of slam to perforrr these events. These rituals are
strongly preserved by ustoz cum u/o/ro (reiigious elite) in the
society, particularly in the Northern and Eastern states of perlis,
(edah, (elantan and Terengganu. Along with possessing
the
skills and knowledge to perform these ritua s, they also act as
referees for any disputes in marriage and divorce situations.
Most of them are ikely to be pAS members or citizens that
support PAS'S political objectives even if they are not registered
members,
Recent trends show that individuals are motivated to be pAS
members for many reasons. First, citizens or supporters are
sympathetic with the party,s objectives. Second y, citizens are
frustrated with how the government is handling the Anwar
lbrahim case, particularly his bruised eye whlle under police
custody. After this incident, pAS recorded that there were more
than 10,000 applicatjons from citizens to become registered
PAS members. Thirdly, citizens view pAS as a place of safe
haven from the injustices committed throLrgh the lnternal
Security Act (lSA). This positive response from citizens marks a
new beginning where pAS no lon8er belongs to the religious
eite of ulomo or rstoz, Members now come from a variety of
professions such as englneers, scientists, academicians,
physicians, administrators, teachers, and clergy. The increased
number of members in pAS creates many advantages previously
unachieved, such as gaining moTe votes in general elections,
raising more funds, expanding power and inf uence, and
strengthening the party's strlrcture in order to achieve support
for forming an lslamic state. HoweveT, support for pAS is coming
from the Maay population and the ldea of an lsamic state
creates a vlsible wallfor non-Musllms to become members,
PAS admits that the Chinese are sensitive to pAS because the
Chinese have been incu cated with information and knowledge
from the national media that lslam is funclamenta ist. ln order
to change this perception, pAS provides smal community talks
to reach non'Muslims, approaching them with a willingness to
 \\'ol lsl)ns Sachsenroedcr (ed)
answer qLrestions re8arding lslam and politics. This approach
helps to alleviate misunderstandings and to convince many
Chinese voters in (elantan, Kedah and Terengganu to accept
PAS candidates as their representatives at the state and
parl amentary level. However, this support and persuasion
phenomenon is not consistent throughout the three states,
Nevertheless, PAS has managed to rend a new message to
people that lslam is considerate of everyone and the universal
imperative forjLlstice and equallty is preserved within its laws.
PAS's motives are facilitated by consensus and coalition
established among PAS, OAP and PKR, the Pakatan Rakyat. The
consociation model has been lmplemented by the Barlsan
government since independence and has worked well in a
communa country ike Malaysia. The ssue is the strength and
durability of the alliance amonB these three political parties. On
one hand, DAP has been vocal in addressing the Chinese
interests, rncluding challenginB the Malay privilege. PKR, a
multiracial party, is promoting the idea of equal Malaysia to all
cit zens. At the other end of the spectrum, PAS views preserving
the Malay privilege as still mandatory. These competing
interests and different objectives lead to a series of renewed
allegiances amonB them. They try hard to always insure that the
nterest of the country supersedes each party's special interest,
lroning out their differences by focusing on common ground
heips to bolgter the coalition.
Additiona y, all three parties co laborate to compete wlth the
Barisan government in general elections, as they mutually
despise 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 advantages
by analysing popu ation densities before deciding on who from
which partv will be a runninB candidate for that area. This
strategy seems to work well despite conflicting opinlons on who
wi be plrt forward as a running candidate (The Star, 2008).
However, the alliance that rhey have is not invincible; different
goals 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 be
seen 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 disciplinary
issue. PAS'5 disciplinary unit consists of 7-8 senior committee
members that will investigate and review any complaint filed by
PAS members. There are three forms of disciplinary resolution:
advice or warning, dismissal, and suspension. ln 1982, Asri
Muda was teaminated from the party for criticising the party's
President durang a PAS assembly. Asri and his supporters rallied
a demonstration that led to a few more members being
suspended from the party. Most recently (2010) other PAS high-
ranking members such as Khalid Samad and Hasan Aliwere also
subject to disciplinary sanctions. The former was suspended for
six months as a member and centrai polit:cal committee
member. 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 Central
Constitution of PAS that not only involves suspension of
membership but also forbids each to give any verbal or written
statement following the suspension (Horokohdoir, 2010).
ln 2003 PAS interna party election had endorsed Abdul Hadi
Awang as the party president uncontested followinB the death
of Fadzil Noor in 2002. PAS had been known as the ulama party
in the 1960s until a recent election shows a new lineup of
leaders that is non-ulama. The process to select the next leaders
is done by the rank and file and those who have the respect
from party members. The candidates with knowledge and with
with charisma will stand a better chance to be elected
(Zubaidah, 2011). The party constitution does not specifv that
only an ulama or profesional can be president. 1n a recent PAS
iniernal election or its 57ih Muktamar, the new line up of
leaders shows a mixed combination of ulama and non ulama,
Abdui HadiAwang remains the president, whiLe Mohamad Sabu
also known as Mat Sabu (an activist) is now the new deputy
president, and three other vice presidents also are non-!lama
 wol lganS Sachsenroeder (ed)
inciuding Mahfuz Omar (re,elected), Husam Musa, and
Salahuddin Ayub. PAS spiritual adviser, Nik Aziz Nik Mat views
that this new combination is good for pAS if it wanted to be a
natlona and malnstream party. ln fact, pAS is sending a clear
rnessage that it has no probems with a non-ulama and a
controversia person like Mat Sabu ho din8 a top party position
(Shuhada Elis {a), 2011). Mat Sabu managed to unseat three
term depLrty president Nasharuddin Mat sa (u ama), and also
proved that he was the delegatey favourite oveT former vlce-
president Tuan lbrahim Tuan Man (u ama). Mat Sabu won with
a narrow 21 vote majority with Tuan tbrahim trai ing at 399
votes and Nasharuddin Setting on y 224 votes (shuhada Elis (b),
2011).
A though there was grouses among a few pAS members that
deemed Mat Sabu not a presidentia material to succeed Abdul
Hadl Au/ang in the near future, Mat Sabu's strength and loyalty
to PAS desplte be ng detained twic€ under the ISA had endorsed
him a great support from Nik Aziz and rnost party members. tn
fact, Mat Sabu's wife, Normah Awi was the founder and
director 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 among
grassroots members in PAs,
Mat Sabu's v ctory was based on a fair election by the members
of PAs. Therefore, Abdul Hadi Awang emphasizes that there will
be no dvison in PAS between the ErdoganTl and Ulama
factons. On the contrary, there is a clear indlcation that the
Erdogan group ls agalnst the idea of unity tal(s with UMNO
whereas the conservat ve ulama are open to ideas of a linkup
with IJMNO Thus, the cornbination of u ama and non Lrlama
'r The term Erdosan is used by rnanv PAS members as a labet as to
former UMNO and non UMNO members who lo ned pAS after the
sackins of Anwar brahim in 1998. The Erdogan group tn pAS s a
strong supporter of Anwar lbrahim and it is also viewed as liberal
lslamist as Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkhh Prime Minister known as
standins for a libera idea of an ls amlc state.
Pafy Potirics in SourheastAsia
could create a tension within pAS. However, pAS ls confident
that their system of syura and musyawarah provide equal
opportunities for ulama to get involved in the party acUvities
and decision making. pAs is now focused on welfare state issues
as a way to find common goals within the pakatan Rakyat pact.
Abdul Hadi Awang is supposed to secure victory in the 13th
general election and treat the succession issue as a matter of
internal arrangement. The new lineup of leaders in pAS is a
strategic p an to make the party appear moderate ahead of the
next general election,
PAS embraces dlscipline, thiqoh or honesty and accountability,
wolo or loyalty to leaders in its eadership organization. These
elernents have been the key factors in ensuring the consistent
rise in membership in pAS. This populist approach is popular
among party leaders and they actively organise training or
workshops for youths. Although training and workshops are
dependent on the party budget, what is actually needed is
voluntarily commitment from younger generations to
participate in the party's activities. pAS depends on financial
contributions made by members and non-members who
attended PAS'S public political speeches as wel as symbolic
membership fees of RM3.OO (an approximate of 1 USD a year. ln
other words, PAS'S money comes from the members, own
pockets. Some altruists that support pAS also come forward
donating bLrllding materta s, money, and other forms of help
according to the needs and these contributions have helped pAS
to survive, Financia security is imited because pAS is not
involved in business corporations that could generate funds for
the party. By contrast the Barisan government has been an
active bLrsiness member of mega business corporations such as
Renong, MLrltipurpose, Genting Berhad, paremba, Maika
Ho dlngs and many others that provide strong financial supports
to the Earisan government (Jamaie,2OO5). Thus, pAS has to
prioritlse its strategy to reach voters. A combination of
traditiona and modern ways is utillzed. Traditiona strategies
such as band wagoning, doorto door explanation, public
 r,voilgang Sachsenroeder (ed) par.y potirics in SourheasrAsia

speeches, workshop, and media are effectlve. PAS a so has the supportive and portrayed the BN efforts as charity
to people
Harokahdaily, a printed newspaper and onllne webslte that can (Malaysiakjni, 4 November 2010).
channel or vorce its poitcal agenda to peope. pAS has an PAS'S insufficient financjal security limits
its capability to eirgage
nformation unit that plays an important roe in informing rn any money po itics, nepotism, vote buying or candidate
peop e through public ta ks and small workshops. Commlttees snatching. With its heavy emphasis on an lslamic view
of Iife,
in this unit are commltted to their tasks and they work day and questions remain on its capacity to secure
votes among non,
nlght to update information for the people. A live televised Muslims, except perhaps Chinese .and lndian Muslims
that
debate for polltical parties has never been successful in this support the idea of an lslamc state. Many pAS leaders
have
cLrlture; for this reason p u blic ta ks and small workshops are stil been vocal in addressing issues of poverty
and nation building,
important Moreover, the lnternal SecurltyAct (tSA) and Offlcia promoting the Malay language as the natjonal
language, and
Secrets Act (OSA) are used by the government to forbid limiting licenses for businesses identified with
socjal crime an.t
information defined as racist or subversive from bejng Jrhea r1y l,ves,, noL regulated, sJch aq
Sambling. selling hquor
distributed lo people on a bas s that it wi I disrupt racial unity. and massage parlours (Salmah, 2Ot0).
This arbltrary use of security and safety creates continuous Although financial security ts limited and money politics
is never
obstacles to PAS in dissemlnating information throu8h an is\Je, fact,o.lal's,r w11'n pAS is dppare.rr. la(r;ondl,sm
;n
teLevsion, radlo, and printed newspapers. Harokohdaily las PAS o(cLrs on t.e basic or d.refl1g perspecttves.
Tnere are i
been banned a few times since its establishment. ln fact, its few factions in PAS. Nik Aziz and the old guards eschew
the idea
license renewal for printing has been withhe d or delayed of a united government with UIVINO, while Nasarudin
Md Isa.
several Umes as a result of resistance from the Barisan Hasan Atr. Taib Azan uddin are tl^e young .rembers
that support
government. Neverthe ess, the advances of information the idea of a united government and forming an alliance
with
techno ogy have he ped PAS to channel lts voice and UMNO. On the other hand, Hadi Awang (Mp Marang,
independenl opinons via internet blogs, facebook, onine Terengganu), a peer of Nik Aziz, has a different
opinion o-n
newspapers, emai s, and instant messages or 5MS, united government. Nik Aziz and Hadi Awang were
in
General y PAS's image on national media is most y tarnished disagreement in 2009 related to this issue and
Mursvidul Am
wlth negatlvity. Durlng a recent state electton in Galas, Ke antan Pa5 was unab'e to resolve t. Jvlembers
on tne sidF tnes viewed
between PAS and UMNO, media networks highlighted the MursyidulAm pAS as weak and acking the will to declde
on the
people's lmage of UMNO whle being negatlve on PAS. The 'ssu. of d ul.ted governTent. AlthOJgh -iaoi Awang.tas never
medla abeLled Nik Azlz, PAs's splritual eader as giving away been cledr on h 9 decr<io1 wnet ter or not
to sLpport ltse u'1ited
cash to people as br bery when actualy he was giving alms to government, most members in pAS
believe he supports the
mual af (peop e newiy converted to s am) to ease thelr burden idea. Subtle factions also exist in pAS including Wahabj,
shiite,
in learning and cornmitting themse ves to ls am, Alms and Sunnah Wal Jamaahi however these groups
are never in
distribution can be done anytime and anywhere to the entitled confiict on the principles and pillars of lslamic beiief
and
recipients but lltusan Malaysla, a partisan media to UMNO, for practice. Even though factionalism
exists, it ts only a matter of
instance ma(es it seem ke Nik Aziz is giving bribes. However, diffe,enL op n ons among these
B-oLrps, pdrt:cr."rly on the issJe
when UNINO leaders were givlng rlce, stove hampers, cash, or a untted gove.n.nelt. At tre end oi the day, the centra,
transport rnoney for voters, and made announcements for committees and members of pAS reunite to promote
an lslami.
project deve opment in Galas, the national media were very state,
 \\'olicanc Ssdrsenroeder (ed) pady polilics
in Sourheast Asia

Slnce many PAS leaders received their higher education in the L,m Kit s,d1s reptaced pdrtr ,stam seMataysia
:;^1\l,r _,:"0:r,
,r., ,T oppos:r'on rep.eselrative in partiam;nt.
Midde East, nda, Pa(istan and lhe Northern part of Africa, lii:l
the r international netwoT(s aTe centred in these countries, To (ons,sle.lty, DAp,s sound perforra,rcerr
tne general election
name a few, PAS has good relationships with internaiiona ot 2008 proveo thal DAp is o te o. rhe
l:rgest opposrr.on parties
organizations suc6 as lkhwonul Muslimin, Hizbollah, Jdmiyah for non-Malays, sjmilar to pAS for the Malays.
ln the 2OOg
tslamiyoh ard politica eaders in these countries.T'? PAS election, DAP won 28 parliamentary
seats and 73 state seats.
maintains its image as an lslamist po ltlcal party that focuses its DAD sweot drl z oarliamentary seats
a1d 19 sLate seat>.or lhe
>rano rtate of pe.ralg (,vh:(h has
radar on any developments in islam around the wodd. a Chjnese major;ry
,rs srare sove,lnenr {Urusan ont ne,
?:lj]rl:,),.torminB
luuar. thus. DAp is viewed ds a forn;daote
Democratic Action Party (DAP) oppone.rt ofthe BN
The DAP or Democratic Action Party was founded on March 18, for its Chinese-based parties such
as MCA and cERAKAN.
1966 shortly after Singapore was dec ared lndependent from As democratic socialists, DAp desires
a social order wherein
Malaysia in 1965 DAP has a strong democratlc socia ist there can be free development of
the human personality within
orientatlon Upholding thls ldeoogy, DAP promotes equality the,community, just distribution of
national wealth, job equaljty
and s against the segregation of BLrmlputera and non- and-toc,d.,,ust:ce for arl .acer. tts
comm,rmelt to the srruggle
Burn putera Usngltssvmbo of the ROCKET, DAP has contested
ror a l.ee denocrat c aoc,aLsr
Ma,dys an Ma,ays a, oased onihe
in 10 genera elections from 1969 to 2008. DAP ls the hardcore p.rnctoles,ol huma. ri8nr\, equdliy,
social
,"" "nd economtc justice,
vanguard of the non-Malays who have skirted sensiUve issues to of partra-ne.lrarv
protect what it deems as social equallty, DAP concentrates on
::1-':,r*:q:"wrrl':ubsrantiaJ
":Litu!;ol rrom
oemocracy, has
l:y:.ded ?Ap
supoorr art .aces regard,ess
its tenac oLrs pursuit of revealing government mismanagement or,the I valuesa4d oeliefs, DAp states that i19 inte.pretat;on
achieving equality does not mean
of
and officia corrupton. Furthermo.e, DAP is perslstent and uniformity and levelling out; it
str dent in its criticism over issues such as government-funded opposes any form of exploitation
and it stands against the
publlc corporations failing to meet their objectives or the oerso-is conko,,ins eco.romic a.rd po,;r,ca,
government loslng money over dubious circumstances (Means,
l:"lr"j:s
A5 : o. Soc'alist rnLernarional
a rnem0er
power.
{S,) DAp proc.aims irs
1991: 181) DAP was able to mobi ize substantlai non-Ma ay a dpmo(rar c soc at,,Ilc corrrry a10
suppo-ts
support in 1982 when it won 9 parliamentary seatsr 6 from
:I-19i,: "]
)oLra tst tnierndroral in the wo.,d.w,de tight fo,
rhp
rne cause, of
Peninsular N/lalaysia and 3 from the Borneo states (sabah and tv and socid derroc,.(y (L:m \,r srang.
::T:n 1982).
Sarawak) (Means,1991)
Yii^] "1!o by norr peopre as a cnauvin.sr Clrnese oarty and
ln the 2004 general electlon, DAP won 12 parliamentary seats rr r' es )lo (5a-ge ir\ ira8e .n
by engdg.ng w.LL peop,e the _.ban
DAp atrempts ro .nd(e its ,mage -no.e
"::__-l-: "*:r
w rh nc'ea(eo od.tr(iodt'on f,o.n
': PAs mem5ers admitt€d that it has no further connection to these lndian, and
groups other than . mere lvlus im brotherhood. ln fact, Kua a Lumpur ,rd?y5, As i- oooosition oartv to
^rte8'ate"d B\. DAp nds fewe. recoJ.ces
reflses 10 accept the nk belween terrorlsm and slam and views rFrs. B\ controls most dva,,ab,e -rled.a
tn
transnat onal terrorism as the product of Wenern mlsd€€ds against ruaray),a the.ero.e DAD Temoers
c:re tha! BN na) oone an
the goba Musllm commun ty, see details Acharya A., and Abifd: or co"rarn;ns DAp 10 urba.l areas
Acharya 2007 The MVth of the Second Front: Localiz ng the War on :]];..:lj:o ond curoilB jt,
rrrrJence t.om soreaoing to,ura,areag
Terror in southeast As a. fhe Wdshinston Quarterly. Vol. 30(41: pp.75- whe.e the majorii oi
Malays are residing. DAp,s 2008 victory
90 to form a state
 parry poiirjcs in
$ ollea s Sachsenroeder (ed) Souiheasr Asia

government in Penang provides an opening for DAP to utilize ln addition, young party mernbers have a great
opportunity to
be telected as .un1'ng candidates n gere.dl
state sponsored venues to reach people, particularly the Malays eleLtions.-,
and lndians in rura areas. DAP uses this forum to lnform as h'ougiour DAp h,story. the oarty ha, gone lhrough
many
many people as possibe about its new lmage as well as its strJggles and has losr in seve.al gene.at
eleLtions. DAp rosl
ideology that advocates socia equaliiy for al . oaory n tte general eteft:o1 of 1990 and had
(eats i lhe parliament. ontv gained ZO
The numbers of registered members may not be substantlal ,1
Simi.arly in tne j995 generat elecrion
UAP ontV m.naged ro win 9 eeats (Azman,
when compared to MCA or UMNO, but DAP has voters that 2OO8: 46). Candtdateg
support it without needing individua s to slgn up officialy as who lost ;n thal e'ec1ro1 also .o(r rlei. advanced
depo(its rF the
party members. The shocking result of the 2008 SeneraL percentage of votes received was
less than 1/g of all votes
election confirmed thls statement when DAP won 28 seats in coLrnted, for instance for a state seat a candidate
must pay
the parLiament. DAP has been at the forefront in addressing the RM5,000 and for a parliameirt seat RM1O,OOO.
tf a candid;te
lost but-managed to secure 1/g of
lssues of corruption and equality, therefore it attracts young all votes, he or she must file a
volers to join it cause. Due to its Limited number of reSistered refund'rom 5PR w thin a year afrer r1e ge.e,ar elecr,on
resu,t .s
members, DAP has experienced difflculty in selecting candidates lnlounced {SPR, 2007). Addiflonally..or those who res,gneo
to run n genera e ections. Members sacrifice their permanent rrom p
Vale secto-s and for rhose who wrlhnejd
their bus;ess
acrvitie\ for sdke of lhe parry. tneir spir.rs were seve,e,y
lobs, careers, money, and energy once they are willing to be
candidates running in the general election. Most DAP members dampe-ed. _the Du inB rhese hardship5. members.
oyalty was
come fTom diverse educatlonal backgrounds and they are aware tested and those who were able to remain
as members until
of such sacrlfice. The victory in the 2008 general elections gave today €re the best among members. This
shared experience
a tremendous re\!ard to DAP, when increased numbers of new
could be another essential factor that helps
DAp to promote
members were added to each of DAP'5 branches located in all ciose interactions among mernbers at the
branch and centaal
states in Ma aVsla,
ln the past, most DAP members were volunteers who held l'l terms ofelecrora .elorm wt,hin tne party, DAp,s (he parry
permanent jobs in private sectors and they assisted the party leost commirted to relorm.,n other wo.ds,
Dnl r< <eeprrg
when thev were available. Afier DAP established a state ntacl I re tLral comTittee as tl^e g.oup respo-sto.e for
c-a
nosr
government in Penang in 2008, most DAP members who won or DAps decisions a.d .r ,s Jnl kFy lo rnvovo
o,o.ndry
parl amentary seats began working full tlme in the house of
representative5 as wel as ln 5tate government positions (chlefs 'r For instance, Mr. Anihony Loke became
a state chairman at age 27,
and minlsters). DAP has fewer members than UMNO and MCA,
::_1-l:"
*,.
rMp peLdtnB raya Jrdrar dnd nar"ar eorr
lsr"re
thus each branch ls able to directly control lts members. An to. SJbdrg Jdl,d) drF Lwo junro. mF. bers rhdL Letp
ro
rejuvenale rle p. .y.
e ection system ls app led to select members in the central B r g,n8 .re\^ o,ood rnro rhe prrry -ears DAp is
o,ogre,:ing ro6dros qL.ergrnen.ag rhe odrrv.s.rrtdence
cornmittee, DAP adopts a proportional system, where a total of roa cit rens.
raL'rg d <.ndrl rumbe, of membe.s :tows
50 members at the branch level wlll be cornpeting amo.g DAp to a11oL.ce tnEr
/oLng tolenrFd oo, rr.ian( wIt hdv€ n ore oopo. rLr r/ r1a1 ihey
themseLves to acquire po5itions at the centraL leveL- A second- woLtd
n d1 o de. . o e F(rob'rsred priL/ wirh
round race wll elect 20 out of 50 peop e to be e ected lnto the -. ,ons ot memoel ar o (Lrh
:'^*l,l:1 ,".Ii ...e. mav tm r vouns pot:rk.rn. r,om
hoto,.ls
central committee, Due to a direct proportlonal electlon system ,radr
Fosrtrons as rnenrbers of p.nianrent.
wlthin the party, DAP s ab e to avoid confllcts among members
 Pany Politics in Soulheasl Asia
\\'o1fg.n-q Sachsenroeder (€d)

Pakatan alliances are ready to lron out their differences in order

members. ln fact the former partY leader, Lim Kit Siang'
is a to flght BN in the general election, their common goal.
His successor'
hardcore socialist and works to retain that imaS€ Although DAP has long been established as a party, its real
Lim Guan Eng, the son of Lim Kit Siang, is viewed by DAP power to engaSe and deliver services to people can be counted
mind to
members as a- great leader that is willing to open his in a few recent years after the victory in the 2008 general
many new ideas that may be more progressive than the election. Governing for only a short period of time wlth access
hard;ore socialists By havinB a few trusted central committee to state resources may prevent DAP from negative political
membe.s in most decislon making positions without engaging practices that are likely to evo ve in older parties such as the BN
ordinary members as well as retaining the socialist democratic who have been in power for more than fifty years. One reason
lma8e, DAP wi I likely remaln unchanged' for a caveat may be former DAP president Lim Kit siang, father
Con;istent with DAP's political agenda that fights corruption' to his only son Lim Guan Eng who is now the chief minister in
the party's flnancial manageTnent requires each branch and Penang. Both 0AP members are a rare father and son team that
cent;al committee to declare its financial report to members may not yet be considered a dynasty within the party. They are
since 2008, DAP has he d an open day for media
to come lnto its supportinS each other in car.ying out the DAP political agenda
party meetings and review its accounts that are open to the of a socialist democratic party and Lim Guan Eng has all the
(operosi
public. oAP h;s a small fund raising contingent called reason to continue his father's legacy. Eoth shared the
Tindokon Demokrasi (Democratic Action Fund) that was
experience of beingdetained under the lnternal Security Act of
money for
estabiished in the 1980s to help the party raise 1960. Labelling this duo as a dynasty within the party may be
events
campalgns and to hold party activities for community premature, as a dynasty constitutes a powerful group or family
attended by elite members of the societY
(businessmen'
that maintains its position for considerable time. To date, DAP
politicians, entrepreneurs, etc ) DAP occaslonally selLs dinner
with
tables for public talks and organizes walkathons to engage
the public whi e tlmultaneouslY raislng funds' DAP has no ?KR lPorti Keddildn Rorryot or People'sJustice Parly)
its finances'
business dealings or corporate networks supporting PKR is a political party forrned in April 1999 as a resultof the
adequate
bLrt strong voiuntarY participation provides DAP reformation movement. Organized by the masses and a loose
|."rour.", io survlve as a party. Having corporate networks
is
coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), PKR and
good for partY sustenance but DAP is taking a precautionary other reformation movements ignited after the removal of
the
i ap not,o depend on too many corporate figures withinsocial Anwar lbrahim on sodomy accusations as a deputy prime
,"", *, ,a, create conflicts of interest for achieving minister of the Barisan government. His captivatinB personality
equallty had iremendous influence on the Malaysian public. Anwar't
of Pakatan
Furthermore, the synergY embedded in the coalition arrest, charging, and assault were viewed by the public as a
provides DAP much opportunity to expand its party agenda and symbol of an unjust system. For this reason Parti Keadilan
io cooperate with PAS and PKR in reaching Malays
in both
Nasiona chose the watd Keadilon, or justice, for its party's
to
urban and rural areas DAP n€eds this coalition of
Pakatan
name. PKR turned the spirit of the street into a real and
stry ,trong in order for DAP to reach these so far
unreachable
organized political party that won the confidence of the people.
help DAP to
auilencesJ pls and PKR are reliable alliances that ln recent history, many street movements have changed or
and
iuLti its ofiectlve. Regardless of their competing interests threatened an authoritarian gov€rnmentr lndonesia, Taiwan,
other
disagree..nts on lssues related to religion, DAP and two
I
I
 \\ ollsds Sachsenroeder (ed) pal1y politics
in Sourheast Asia

and Thal a nd. The uprising geared the social movements against
issues such as corruptlon, unlust systems, discrimination, and The,multiracial philosophy in pKR cohtributes to minimal
inequallty of ethnic groups (Nidzam, 2006 hardcore Matays lo.n;n€ the pa.ty. p(q promotes
:ii?:,t among
equarrry "t all ra( es, which
is v,ewed as a main weapon ,6.
PKR's ideology is concentrated on fighting for lustice. Since the beating UMNO as for getting support
from all voters. p(R has
building block of PKR is people from dlverse backgrounds and as yet to clarify the meaning of afflrmative
the party is at a young age, its culture is still evo ving. Members
action to the
EumipLrtera. The attempt to create
a multiracial party dated
who joined the party were former members of the Barisan ba(k to Daro Onn :n I9S4 whpn he jntrodJced porli
government, members of NGOs that champloned hLtman rights (Nationa' p:.tV) whi.h wol one Negorc
seat ir tne 1959 gerera,
issues, academicians, and professionals. Many of thern brought election, However, Dato Onn failed
with them their values of populist particlpation and crltical
to convince the new
vatavs:e ro tsc(epr sucn an .nvertive p.oposirron
analysis. The growing cultLrre of democratic partlclpation in the ;1{11e,r^o-1t
r_r-1u_,:rr. ," *as st;fl d pure ag.drian srate with
^l-,]i- \enLtrnentj"fh:ving a mu,rirac.a, po.i,Ca, party
party aliows members to elect their division and national strong
ern.lr-ci
was toJ
leaders. This positive practice of PKR differs from the Barisan I dor( ar as a concep-
for the -nagqes at that r:.ne,
government that is strongy hierarchical, one in which its The c'lrre-r rnol,vation ,or peop,e
to jorn p(R depends on rhe
leaders are not to be cha lenged. However, a new development of rne Bar,san gove,nnenr. tro'licalty, around
on PKR's interna election shows disappointment from numbers l::,-",-T:r."
2010-2011 mosr people seemed
to oopose rne Bar;san eiites
of party members who accused that the electlon was be'ieve that phR rs tne .ignr altern:r,ve.
:,:":-tn1".
members joined Dhq berause of .desl.sm. ea.if
want.nB ro fignt lor
justice.. and good governance.
However, this motivatjon
gradually changed when pKR
won several parliamentary seats
scattered in Sejangor, penang, Kedah,
71 and perak in 2OOg. people
Zaid Lbrahim is a former minister ln the Prime M nister's are now foreseeing another mot,vation _
departm€nt, has pulled out of the contest for the deputy president of
a possible personal
benefit and social status mobility in
society to join pKR.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat compet ng against Mohamed Azrnin A l. Another
cand date has given the party two days to fix the alleged irregularlties. PKR organizes fund raising events and recejves donations
Za d triillng Azmln with 3,410 to 4,378 votes in the e ectlon for the from
the people to sustain its existence and activities.
post decided to step down from a PKR pons includinC that of Federa Altholrgh a
yearlv eport lhat deratls ,., acaountilg pract,ces
Terrltories Chlef and a po itical bureau member. Zaid further explains (o-rd oe
ihal during the course of the party election, leaders of PKR actively unoer oue5trcn, noney is to!,,i1g .nto ,ro.n
rne parry rhe
grds5.oots tever, .he -easol is
condoned ma practlces and electora fraud to achieve therdesigned unde. qLerL:on oeLa-re a wrrtten
objectiv€ (Alang B€ndahara, Shuhada, Mas inda & Yiswaree, 2010).
.eoort
detdi,rng rhe frnan(ia activ,ties js
never shareo witn
This turbulence inside PKR may damage lts party reputatlon and the members. Donatjons come from jndjviduals
impact will bc calcu ated ln the next general election. Zaid lbrahirn left
and private
PKR ln November, 2010. Prevlous y his membershlp was terminated by
f.spjahLema. tn<on Io.oh ard d,ro
UMNO d!€ to the fact that Zald attefded a PKR assembly. Hop ng to k.oI(r as peoo e,9 We,fare pa.ty
channel hr po tica enthusiasm n PKR, Zaid was unable to convince ::^:::^J:.,-y .)r. .ra1
. nTA s rr.s<ro- wa. io
8,ve ba(k ,n,ty .o ,r.
o'op'e. vow -g tosta ,dagdra,t j.trvpes o. _uo;noriry and . ege^
many PKR members. (.llmadeShah Othman, Maiaysiakini,2008. Less on),.
lew.r.air . m".. 201i. lad,ouh.hes
than 2 months after he left PKR, Zaid brahim formed KITA (Portl KITA. t9,.. uarv 201i

\\'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
i selection mechan sm ed to
several issues incLuding
representatives withdrawing from the party and declaring
1
themselves as lndependent candidates or jumping into the
t
party potitics in Southean
Asia
Barisan government.Ts
The party needs some control mechanism that
will limit
candidates who win in the election under the party banner from
jumping to another party. During the stron8 mass
movemen!
some candidates were using pKR as a platform to become
members of parliament based on tremendous support from the
people. Running as a candidate under the pKR party
banner
indicated that chances of winning the election were high,
particularly in the state of penang. Another issue was
the lack of
leadership qualities amonS newly-elected representatives such
as Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal), Datuk Sri Zaharin Mohame.l
Hashim (Bayan Earu), Mohsin Faduli Samsuri (Bagan Serai),
Zrlkif:Nordr,1 (Bandar BarJ, Kul,m). Once elected, many ot
them disclosed the party,s interna,affairs through p!blic media
and damaged the party,s image (G. Manimaran, 2O1O).
Dissension between party members and leaders,n 2O1O led
to a
communication breakdown, resulting in a few more members
leavin8 PKR. With the party,s cohesiveness in question, pKR
strategized ways to resolve this issue_ Although a selection
mechanism was needed, there was no guatantee that a
candidate possessed all of the qualities needed to be a good
representative. Educat,on may be the mark of a good
academician, but not necessarily of a good politician. Therefore
a 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
were
enco!raged to voice their d ssaiisfactions or differences
'j for instance, state representatives from Behrang and ChanglGt
lering Jamaluddin Mohd (pKR), and a retired mitirary officer Capia
n
Mohd Osman (PKR), Zulkifli Nordin a member of parlamentfor Bandar
8aru, (ulinr (Malaysiakini, 1 Feb 2009; G Manimaran, 2009). A
few
new y elected representatives from pKR were tncapable
of
representing the people due to their tack of experience as politicians
and low €ducationat levets. Therefore they wer€ easitv influenced
when orpssure. thredts, or rewards we.e o.fe.ed to inem.
 $oltgang Sachsef roeder (ed) pan) pot.r .n
\ou,1e"n A).d
-.

through internal channeLs. PKR appLied damage control bY for good governance to win people,s hearts
and votes. positions
advislng members not to use the rr1edia as a channe to discuss and rhe p. ce or oi, and g", *,r .,p,,re
internal affairs. Moreover, PKR required leaders to call for a
:,1,:"::,T:il:r*,,
crllzens tnterests as welJ. The mo
dlvislon meeting once every two months at the very least as a promJtsared o, o*i"*r, ir,"'.ir,i':: ;::fi'",ff
way io listen to gr evances as weLl as to lmprove the party's Alrartuya, (d J\4ongorian n-ode,J murder "'Ht:i:
care, tn whicn 50me
management. More meetings are encouraged dependlng on the su5pect.the prime Minisre. or a close lr:end
to have been
needs or demands from party mernbers. Dlvision meetings are
L1"", ir
or carnpaisns. sJppo,rers our benner>,
important because they are a p atform for party leaders to hear -Yl111 mdscore ro provo(e r,,rajio. =hese
comments from the grassroots level. P(R a so developed ways
1r,l"lir: i"lnlB
manageo,lo. a ract mdny suppo.te.s,o;oi" rfu,rrpa,inr, strategie-s

to strengthen the party's nfluence by forming the youth wings. oal"icJlarly Lr F yo-th. Th.rd. the pdnala.r
coatit:on thal :n(,udes
At the beginn ng of PKR's establishment, membership in the pAS arose
natura y as a way ro beat the Barisan
youth wing was open to men only. Later, the membership was
ll,ll.?OO
gov_e nme.r""1.5y strck;ng
rogelner. DAp 1, ,,rro, ,rug"_o..f
opened to wornen but the women's wing of the party was t Peopres Artron Pany) is basica..v
:ilg:::* on Malay privileges. againsi the
created separatelV and is known as Srikandi. However since provrsron
,1erl'al./e rhe pe.cept;on Meanwhite pAi ir"t,vi"g-i"
2003, the number of women joinlng the Srikandi is stll low For of non-MJsrims on .sram -a1d
lJnddrrenralisrr Both pa.fles view
the divis on meetings, nine members aTe e ected as equa,,ty .n a oitrerent
representatives to the National Congressr flve of them are co.)te\t: DAo wantt equality.o,
a,l; DAS bel,eves rnat equal.ry is
appointed automatica ly (a Chief, Deputy Chlef, and three eq rariry musr oe Jsed ir rhe rigni
deputy chiefs from ord nary members) and two of them must
::-",j.t,i0,-"^::1
prdLe ds reeoed. ,,":*lore
Howeve,, p\q, D,esideal Anwdr
lbran_;,s
s(i s prevai,ed when he ded,r w.rh DAD
is difficu t to decipher by most
1i1"]l:!". ano pAS
PKR's financial management ,
l""r^":,j,:-::]:,: " "rde, ro (o1v,nce rhem s;.r,utraneous,y to
respondents. They have a financlal report at thelr Annual itive i\sJes t.tvo'Vtqg
rJ^e rwo parties
Genera lvleeting, but the treasLlry 1s run directly by the .oatrtron wa) prevro,rs.y anown
as Borisa,
lile^:-a(alan,xdky:t
6,,r,rror'l (A,rernalive F,ort). p(q,s orpsioenL
President of the party, hls second man, Azmin Ali, and a few Anwar torahim,
imoorranr
corporate members of the partv. so, financial transparency is a
:l?:0.: :", d'l'dn'e ro,e in brinsins ,eaders .ron DAp and
big question in the party. However the policy "don't ask_ don't Mosi ne-nbert v,ew Anwar rb.ahim
tell" does not apply here because those who decided to run as
:i'-'-':.lt" 1e .s 5ri,r vi dr ,1 -n:;n!a,nirs rhe
as a

candidates n the general electlon approved by the party are

:;:::,,:1.: :10,y".polrtrcd
,-,":,. coa,irion.
pdrt,es rlaL d,rter,r ioeo,ogy
people who were abe to sponsor themselves. The Party
;BUdrs-,-",;
iManV spn(,t:ve is)Jp,
oetween DAp drd oAS are so;te"ed
.nd
conlributes only a sma I portion to each indlvidua candidate. by Anwar's negotjation skills; his efforts
always pull them
P(R members strugge wlth contemporary issues and with to8elhe'and nejp tFem Io stay,ocused
on Lompetrng aga:n5r
establishing alliances with DAP and PAS. First, workshops are the'r coT.no_n enemy. rhe co.-Jor
a^d Jljusr Bor.5dn
held for members to d scuss campaign strategles becaLrse PKR 2oro) ine ever o, cor esveness amons
never cons!lts external experls for lts poitical campaign9.
::::,;:::]"ll-:r,:,,nproved a. rnd,]y sensir,ve
Neverthe ess members' experiences are taken into account to ^1ll.l"-i
u 9'.o,r,, (e"':rg ,ese,\,"d. -1e
\cusse0 wrthou-
,s.ues can be
Ddlata. cnamp.ons
minimize waste and errors Second, PKR focuses on a popular 0'otecr ng h-_1d- r,g. !s t,rp-ov.ng rpallh
, ca.p oro,,rsiors,
15sue such as corruption n the Barlsan government or the need ale,/ot'ng pove,Lr/ ac.oss eln-( gro"ps
exoos,ng !ol|rtpt,o1,
 Sachsenroedcr (ed)
\\olleane
voicing transparency in governance, and preventing executive
power abuse. n addition, the leaning towards natlonal unity
rather 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 the
party as a result of dlsappointment over the PKR leader's
decislon 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 recent
issue reappeared when many assumed that Anwar's mature
polit cal lmage somehow influenced the selection of candidates
running for state or parllamentary eection.
76
Regardless of
PKR'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 of
the 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 the
winner 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 not
a oca Hu ! Se angor res dent.
Party potirics in Southeasr Asia
was to create new layers of potential eaders and supporters to
bolster party existence_ The age limit to enter pemuda l<eadilan
is below 40 years of age because young people are seen as the
real machine thai will empower ihe party for the long run. pKR
is willing to let candidates from the youth wings run in general
elections and Pemuda Keadilan should perceive themselves as
no longer as a support group but as a main political actor
contributing to the party,s needs and sustainabilitv. This
approdch d,ffers fror the Barisal goverrment. lor instance. rne
lJ\,4NO !oul.r w ng is viewed a) o support grouo that .s
obliBed
to 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, vote
buying, nepotism, and money politics have not yet surfaced.
These aspects revea themselves when the political party has
long been in power, as the Barisan that is more than 50 years
old. PKR has its own print media known as Suora Keddilon. ft
was banned from printing in years when its printing license was
denied for renewal since lune 2010. However, banning may not
have been a deterrent for pKR to reach out to people. pKR set
up 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 Anwar
lbrahim's case. Anwar lbrahim was a second man in the Barisan
government before serving as the Malaysian Finance
Minlster
for severa years. This office granted him tremendous political
exposure at the internationa level. Anwar was imprisoned at
Sungai Buloh detention facility for 6 years. Accusations against
him spawned a huge civil movement that attracted many g obal
governments to condernn Dr. Mahathir,s abusive administration
of power and the unjust judicial system. The National
Endowment for Democracy (NED), tRl and a few NGOs from the
USA and Europe are among the international organizations
that
have supported PKR's movement for justice.
 \\ ,lferng Sa.h5enroeder (ed) p,1\ po.il... in 5oJlhe"\r ,
^
conclusions 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.
The po itical aLlances among parties are an approach sultable structured features of UMNO and MCA
l1 facL, the
often dir.orr"g" ioung
for an ethn caLly dlverse state Both BN and Pakatan utilize people from joining the party,
as evidenced by the ihockin!
poitica consensus among partles and participate in general results of the 2OO8 generai election.
Although UMNO and MC;
elections as an avenue to assert their polltical sovereignties. c aimed to have more than a
milrion .eg,srered me-nbers, rhe
Even though each party in the alliance represents different 0eleat rn Penang, nedan, Selargor and
kerantan ro pakatan wa,
races \^/ithin itselt recent developments show that PKR and DAP a cedr ndicdtion tna( the Voulger generation
tend to overtLy champlon their parties as mu tiracia. BothBN
of voters L
movrng lway tro11 Lhe Ba,tsan governrylent,
and Pakatan posit thelr intentions toward national unity but
both partres use different mechanisms to achieve that end. The ,: attract voters are imptemented within party
forrner sticks to raciaL unity with a strong emphasis on
:]l:"gi"r
managemert age'1das:n aJl po.itical oarlies:n l\lalalsia. ,n
champion ng each ethn c groLrp's interests with flexible add tro., VoJth wtngs for oo-h men and women
are for.ned as a
toerance. The atter advocates that good governance will beo'ocI ieatu.e tn morr polrtical parrie\. youth
wi'1gs have
create nat ona I unltv. worked we I when parr.es o.ganile wor(snops
ard t-a;ni1g tor
::y - unde.)rand rhe parry s vdrues, ideotogy and
l"Ib":r.Memoert
Despte progressing towards securing each ethnic group's p1 losophy. volultariiy submit themlelves to the
interests and welfare, most political partles including UMNO, oarlys ru'es ano regulations oJt clashes of toentiry
dre
McA, and PAS are dlsplaylng the substantlal impact of inevitable jn any political undertaking.
However competjng
factlonaJism within each party. Additionally, money politics and rnterests between or among leaders
do not lead to part;
domlnance are not the only factors that lead to factionalism. disbandment. Most conflicts rest with
attitude disagreements
W th n MCA and PAS factlonallsm can occur due to differences instead of ideological clashes and they
appear to be
ln opinion, personality, and seniorlty. 1n fact, factonalism is a rndnageable. ,ssues a.e resolved .espe(tful,y
and mernoers
seasonal phenomenon: lt evo ves during the lnternal elections erner cho,e to e\tL T1e pa1y, ro srJoject theTsetves
and dissolves when the election is over. ln reatity mpm0e15h o srsoens.on o. to lace
to
d:s(.o,ild.y a, tion. As ,ong a9
bothall ances,BN and Pakatan, are able to rally their common conrl,ct aal be reso,ved qutc(.V 1re.noers
can rest ea9y.
miss ons, to stay Lrnited, and to compete against their defined
Another feature of political parties is
the business involvement
,10 LV\O. Bor- oarries po*ess fi-ancia secJ,iry
Moreover organlzatlona size, establishraent, and duration of :l ^r:,^ vd(( nvestTents i-
rToLBh tlet. buq:ness nerwork( dnd a.e
be ng in power are attributes that seem to contribute to elther sJbstanrLl.y inlluenced by Loroo.are
tgr.es a.ro ougtne5s
moTe oT ess structure withln a po ltical party. uMNo, MCA and rycoons tha good q;de ir rnar an effect ve
campa,gn can be rur
PAS are the best examples of structured and hierarchical with sufficient funds; the bad side js conilicts
|. of interest that
organl2atlons, while PKR exemplifies a new party that is less p.o1^01e shor'g cao:tal .r po,ic:es
and nepoUsn. However, rno<t
structured. Representlng the midd e ground, DAP is f exible in ool t.cd pantes clat,n rhar tnpy conducl
tl-et. oa,ry,s linalc.al
al ow ng young party members to run as candldates, dativitres w:ln a5 m,tch tra, rparelcy
as po((tb e a1d oltel hire
?. cons dering that lts registered members are les5 than UIVINO's 0 otos,iona', to aud tLo oa-rv.s aLco
t, I.ttc. ,n (mal.e. parlies
li
 \\'ol lSang Sachtenroeder (ed)
such as PAS and DAP, fund raising can be an issue. For them,
members' sacrifices, donations and voluntarily participation are
adequate to sustaln their existence.
Finally, a strong control over the media allows BN to retain a
popuiar mage on m€dia networks as a party that works for the
people. What is unsaid is that it is difficult for the opponents
to
enjoy equal time on the air. Most of the time, pakatan parties
are portrayed as disturbers, subversives, and inexperienced
contenders incapable of governing. pAS, DAp and p(R have to
mobilize the r party images ihrough alternative channels such as
blogs, online newspapers, and party websites to respond to
comments made by the government against them, The
information techno ogy era has significantly altered the media
monopoly that once belonged to BN. However, conquering the
sphere of information is not enough to influence voters across
races. The BN components still have the advantaSe of money,
strong elite cohesion, large numbers of members, vast political
experlence, and control over government machinery that open
fianks for the opposition to break the status quo. The new rules
created by iechnology, although available to all parties, now
make changing pol tical power ln the future possible.
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