DOWNFALL OF MALAYSIA’S RULING

PARTY
 Malaysia’s 14th General Election
(GE14)
 On May 9th 2018, Malaysia conducted their general elections, which surprisingly
resulted to huge upset for United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

 Three-year-old political party called Alliance of Hope (Pakatan Harapan/PH) won the
election headed by Dr. Mahathir Muhamad (former PM) & Anwar Ibrahim (current
PM).
 1MDB (1Malaysia Development
Berhad) SCANDAL
 1Malaysia Development Berhad is a Malaysian state fund set up in 2009 by Najib
Razak (former PM), its goal is to promote development through foreign investment
and partnerships.
 An estimated 4.5 billion US dollars was stolen by Najib Razak and UMNO leaders.
 The Malaysian Anti-Corruption agency (MACA) investigated the case but Najib
Razak fired the attorney general leading the investigation and appointed a new one,
they raided the MACA offices and arrested officials. Later on, he was cleared of all
charges by the attorney general he appointed
 This particular financial scandal severely tarnished UMNO’s reputation. There are
allegations of misappropriation of billions of dollars from the state investment fund
which implicated the former prime minister Najib Razak and other UMNO leaders.
 Mahathir Muhamad’s comeback

 Dr. Mahathir Muhamad is a former Prime Minister of Malaysia, from 1981-2003 and
2018-2020. Therefore he already has a reputation and political background.
 He was a former member of UMNO, but when the 1MDB scandal was exposed and
caught international headlines, he created a new party (Pakatan Harapan) which is
also the party that overthrew the dominating party in Malaysian politics for over 60
years (UMNO).
 Kampung Medan incident (2001)

 On march 8, 2001, in a small village of kampung medan located in Petaling Jaya,

Selangor Malaysia where 70% of the population are Malays, 20% are Indian and
10% are Chinese, there was a 6-day riot between Malays and Indians from March 8
to march 13 which led to 6 deaths and a hundred people wounded and around 400
people were detained.
 HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action
Force) Rally
 On November 25, 2007, HINDRAF initiated a rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
calling out the government for its policies which only favor ethnic Malays. An
estimated number of 5,000 to 30,000 people joined the rally.
 City hall authorities in the country demolished several Hindu temples accompanied
by various violence against the Hindus.
 April 21, 2006 is when the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple was demolished by
Malaysian authorities.
 May 11, 2006, 3 more Hindu temples were demolished at the advent of one of the most
important festivals for Hindus, the Deepavali or festival of Lights.