|
|
The Malaysian polls confirm
that people have grown tired of the arguments for the strong
one-party state, he explained during a telephone interview from
Jakarta.
''It may have served governments during the
early stages of nation-building but not now. That era is over.''
|
Malaysia
ushers in democracy
Marwaan
Macan-Markar
IPS
20 Mar
08
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41565
Following
last weekend's general elections, Malaysia finds itself firmly
among South-east Asia's promising democracies that afford space
for strong opposition voices to rein in their governments.
The
impressive showing of the opposition parties at Saturday's poll
saw the ruling National Front (NF) coalition (or Barisan
Nasional), lose its dominant grip on power after 40 years.
Opposition lawmakers won 82 out of the 222 seats in the
parliament, a dramatic increase from the 19 seats they had held
in the outgoing legislature. The opposition also gained control
of five of Malaysia's 13 states.
Till this month's poll,
the NF had continued to enjoy a two-thirds majority in
parliament, consequently giving rise to strong autocratic leaders
like the former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled the
country for 22 years. But the current leader, Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, faces a new political reality, after the
governing coalition he led won 140 seats, a little over 60
percent of the constituencies.
''We are very surprised
with the results, but it is clear that the issues we campaigned
on like corruption, the economy and high crime rate struck a
chord with the electorate,'' said Teresa Kok, who was returned to
parliament for the third time for the opposition Democratic
Action Party. ''Finally, the people of Malaysia felt bold enough
to demand for change. This has never happened before.''
The
electoral results are a landmark for democratic politics in the
country, she added during a telephone interview from Kuala
Lumpur. ''It opens the space for a two-party system.''
The
significance of the moment was not lost on commentators in the
local mainstream media, where government pressure has
historically kept a tight lid on dissent. ''In the years to come
this election may well be remembered as Malaysia's rite of
passage to democracy,'' wrote Shad Saleem Faruqi in the Internet
edition of the 'Star' newspaper. ''A maturing electorate saw
through all the political rhetoric, the issues of corruption,
arrogance of power and price rises.''
Even some of the
country's regular foreign critics offered a bouquet. ''Malaysia's
elections this past weekend should be heralded as an important
gain for democracy in South-east Asia,'' remarked Freedom House,
the Washington D.C.-based political and civil liberties watchdog,
in a statement released Tuesday. ''Despite attempts by the ruling
coalition to suppress opposition voices by arresting activists
and restricting public demonstrations, opposition parties
quadrupled the number of seats they hold, gaining the capacity to
block government efforts to amend the constitution, as it has
done frequently in the past.''
In fact, the political
realignment in Malaysia deals a blow to an old political order
that had defined a regional grouping since its inception, the
Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). The five
founding countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand - had governments that made a strong case for
dominant one-party states, where any hint of opposition was
crushed.
Consequently, ASEAN was the home to strongmen
like Indonesian leader Suharto, Philippines president Ferdinand
Marcos and authoritarian prime ministers like Lee Kuan Yew of
Singapore and Mahathir of Malaysia. The policy of the one-party
state was even defended by Lee and Mahathir as a feature of
''Asian values,'' where political and civil liberties had to give
way to development and economic progress.
Today, however,
Singapore is the only founding member of ASEAN still clinging to
the old political order of the strong one-party state. For
company in the regional grouping, which has marked 41 years and
has expanded to 10, the affluent city-state has communist-ruled
countries Vietnam and Laos, military-ruled Burma and the absolute
monarchy in Brunei. Cambodia, the other ASEAN member, has more
political freedom.
Yet the prospect of the political wave
that swept through Malaysia being repeated in other ASEAN
countries appears remote. Most so in Singapore, the richest and
most developed of ASEANs remaining one-party states. The ruling
People's Action Party (PAP) has held on to power since 1959. It
holds 82 of the 84 seats in the current parliament, which was
elected in 2006. The PAP enjoyed a similar dominance in the last
parliament, following the 2001 poll.
''The ruling party
sees an opposition party as a threat and it pursues a lot of
measures to keep the opposition outside the political spectrum,''
Chee Soon Juan, leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, said in
a telephone interview from the city-state. ''It has been done by
filing lawsuits against opposition figures, using the internal
security act and even banning podcasts and using SMS during
election campaigns.''
Yet he concedes that Malaysia's
transformation is ''very encouraging'' for opposition parties in
the region that face autocratic regimes. ''There are lessons to
be learnt. The opposition parties and activists in Malaysia have
been pushing the limits of the government, and they are now
enjoying the fruits of their labour.''
And for ASEAN to
grow up politically, the fear among the majority of the group's
countries to embrace a stronger and vocal opposition has to end,
says Endy Bayuni, chief editor of 'The Jakarta Post'. ''Countries
need healthy debates in parliament, which will now happen in
Malaysia. It means that the government will have to explain and
fight for its policies.''
The Malaysian polls confirm
that people have grown tired of the arguments for the strong
one-party state, he explained during a telephone interview from
Jakarta. ''It may have served governments during the early stages
of nation-building but not now. That era is over.''
|
|
