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Malaysia Demos: Sound and Fury, Signifying Little

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Written by MAT SALLEH
Monday, 12 November 2007
The battle inside the ruling national coalition is more important than the one on the streets Photos from Malaysia Today Now that the biggest demonstrations in 10 years in Malaysia are over and the wounds are being bound up, clearly the big loser is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the winners are the opposition parties, and the most astute players in the drama are the country’s nine sultans. The police put the demonstrators at 10,000, but pictures published by such websites as Malaysia Today showed numbers far in excess of that. The protesters put the figure at closer to 40,000. The protesters, headed by the leaders of the three opposition parties, defied government orders to march to the palace of the Yang di-pertuan Agong, Malaysia’s king, to deliver a petition asking for clean and fair elections. Abdullah Badawi had denounced the protests and vowed to stop them. He was clearly too weak to do that, raising questions of how strong he is in his own party, the United Malays National Organization, the ethnic Malay party that leads the Barisan Nasional, the ruling national coalition. “I would think that the opposition has managed to embarrass the prime minister,” says a Kuala Lumpur-based political analyst. “Pak Lah’s (Abdullah Badawi’s) grip on power is not as strong as Mahathir’s but he still has control.” Mahathir Mohamad, Badawi’s predecessor, was prime minister from 1981 to 2003. Nonetheless, during the UMNO general assembly that ended last Friday – a day before the demonstration – one delegate lodged a police report against Abdullah Badawi for blocking Mahathir from attending the 2006 UMNO Supreme Council meeting, a clear sign of the prime minister’s weakness. The sultans, hereditary leaders of the country left over as a colonial vestige with little governmental clout, came alive this year to exercise the only power they retained after they were largely eviscerated politically by Mahathir in the mid-1980s. Sensing the prime minister’s weakness, they refused to ratify the appointment of a federal court chief judge, meaning the position has remained vacant for months. When the good-government organization Bersih, or “Clean,” organized the rally last Saturday, it appeared to have been hijacked by the four main opposition parties and led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who in effect heads Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The decision to march to the Istana Negara, or king’s palace, put the king in a precarious position. As the country’s constitutional monarch, he could not be seen to be siding with the opposition despite the momentum for reform. Consequently, when the government was using water cannons and tear gas on the marchers, the palace let it be known that he would accept the petition – which indeed was accepted at the Istana but not by the king, Mizan Zainal Abidin, the Sultan of Terengganu, who took the five-year rotating kingship last December. “What’s important to remember is that the king was not in the palace at the time the memo was handed over,” says the analyst. “It was given to an official of the palace. That means the king, who knew well in advance of the march, was intentionally away.” Nonetheless, despite the fact that he was away, the petition is in the hands of the royals. It wasn't rejected. Abdullah Badawi and UMNO wasted no time putting the blame on the opposition parties, calling the delivery of the petition an attempt to force the king into taking sides and accusing the opposition of attempting to create propaganda in advance of elections expected to be called some time next year, perhaps in March. It is undeniable, however, that a significant percentage of the yellow-clad demonstrators were ethnic Malays, who traditionally have not been a part of the opposition. “Obviously, the action was tantamount to dragging the institution of the monarchy, and the king, into politics,” Abdullah Badawi told a press conference Monday, ignoring the fact that the monarchy had dragged itself into politics by refusing to ratify the prime minister’s choice for federal court judge. Two weeks ago, the highly respected Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak, former lord president of the Supreme Court, in an unprecedented speech referred to a loss of confidence in the judiciary as a result of questionable appointments and judgments perceived to be driven by politics and money. Abdullah Badawi has been under almost unremitting attack from Mahathir for months, the attacks abating only while the 81-year-old former premier checked into the hospital for a heart procedure. He is now on his feet again and, the political analyst says, “the speculation is that Mahathir will go for one last heavy salvo against Abdullah once he has gained sufficient strength closer to the elections. That I think scares the PM at this stage.” Nonetheless, as has always been true in Malaysian politics, the elections inside UMNO for control of the party are probably more important than the national elections, given the fact that UMNO is the 800-pound gorilla in the coalition. And UMNO elections, at which Abdullah Badawi could possibly lose his premiership, are two years away. At the moment, all efforts are on the national elections, the analyst says, at which the Barisan will probably retain its two-thirds majority, “with perhaps some cities and key Chinese areas lost. Maybe Penang. There will be reduced votes all around, but the Barisan will still win.” The Malays in the kampungs, or rural villages, despite their affections for the nine sultans, remain largely unaffected by the political scene in Kuala Lumpur and tend to vote with the ruling parties, which have delivered decades of economic progress despite the widespread allegations of corruption. So despite the numbers Malays in the crowd on Saturday, they were largely from the Islamic party, Parti sa-Islam Malaysia, or PAS, and from Anwar’s party. The important split among the Malays is the one inside UMNO – not the one on the streets, despite the enrichment of a small Malay elite at the expense of the lower-income Malays. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Comments (11) Subscribe to this comment's feed Show/Hide comments Mr written by Salak , November 21, 2007 The battle in and out of BN are just as relevant. To regard one as more will be myopic and partisan. Those who don't love the present PM will say he's wishy-washy. All ASEAN countries are wishy-washy as Burma plays out now. No fool can ignore the underlying fundamentals. Not everyone in UMNO, the boneless back of the BN, does not love Mahathir, the ex PM. If allowed the old geezer will haunt anybody from his grave. The Lingam video scandal and this rally should put those old guards on the defence or stay clear of Abdullah's way. He could still watch on the sidelines as Anwar grinds his axe! Will the PM go all the way for good governance? He might when Mahathir taunts and haunts him as the former PM protects his turf or tries to choreograph new steps to his old moves. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 If you think racist everything is racist written by a guest , November 18, 2007 Malaysian politics will always br racial if we always think along that platform. All said an done BN will still win in the next election becomes they still offer the best administrator. They basicly need to buck up on their professionalism and a strong watch dog needs to be in place sort of a quality control department. The Judiciary, Royalty independence of government control must be revived and Ruling Government must present a report card to the Public every 6 months based on their cleanliness index.This is not abt race. The whole business world is looking at you, MaLAYSIA....buck up and cut the racist crap n discrimination policies or we will shift everything to Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by pttan , November 16, 2007 After screwing up the country well and good by voting UMNO all the while, they now turn around and blame the Chinese for keeping UMNO alive, and drag the Indians in too... Anyone with the pea brains will realise that with the votes coming in from small rural seats which are 90% Malay, UMNO will stay in power. It is Malay votes that kept UMNO alive....without a doubt. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by abidul , November 15, 2007 It appears that many people were unaware of the rally and it's purpose, particularly the Makcik Pakcik, not just in the village but also the suburb. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 question written by pierrenay , November 14, 2007 "What is the demonstration for?" I asked a friend who told me to come dressed in yellow who replied rhetorically, "for clean & fair elections.” I quizzed further, “You mean you've laid out a plan for a new electoral process?” which he responded in boom box narrative on the subject of the current state of the judicial system as the next reason to come dressed in yellow while quelling my second question. I saw a picture of myself standing in Bata Shoes, Kaki green shorts and a white shirt carrying a pencil box about to do my SPM exams when I first heard story, the judicial story,I was a teen, no demonstrations then, same people though, the opposition and even some of them were not opposition then so who was the demonstration for? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Malaysian Myths written by jedwin , November 14, 2007 Whoa ... hold on, that is not my views but myths many Malaysian wronglly beleive i.e. myths. You are rights, Malays in Singapore have not lost anything and are doing well there. But this is the myth we are fed to believe that DAP or PAS are threats and this is not true. My point is that race is being used as the political platform and we Malaysian are fed these myths to keep us apart. We are not a multi racial society but a plural society. Why? becuase for political purposes the races are kept apart and so it would be easier to rule the country. Think about it. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by TheWrathOfGrapes , November 14, 2007 /// To the Malays, be careful if not DAP will win and Malays will lose their land and all their rights, see Singapore. /// Jedwin, what rights have Malays lost in Singapore? FYI, they have more rights than other races. The average Malay in Singapore are doing much better than the average Malay in Malaysia, thank you very much. Malays lose their land? How??? Has any Malays in Singapore been banished? If DAP wins, how would Malays lose their land? You mean the land does not belong to Chinese and Indian Malaysians? You mean non-Malays are not full-fledged citizens in Malaysia? What rights have Singapore Malays lost? The right to be given contracts without the expertise or financial resources? The right granted by the NEP? The right to invade others at night to check for khalwat? The right to force them not to renounce Islam? The right to threaten other races by waving the Keris? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by Jedwin , November 13, 2007 Yahya is completely accurate in his analysis. It was the Chinese votes that kept UMNO in power particularly 1999 eleactions. We Malaysians are led to beleive that all Chinese are opposition and Malays support UMNO. In fact most Indians are pro UMNO as well, see what happended in Ijok, when Indian votes saved BN. This shows just how raced based BN politics are and how it has been kept going since independence. Why? Why not, what better platform then race based politics to rule Malaysia. To the Malays, be careful if not DAP will win and Malays will lose their land and all their rights, see Singapore. To the Chinese and Indians, watch out otherwise PAS will win and you cant do business or live here as everything you do will be haram. We, BN are the moderate ones, we can control the Chinese via MCA and Gerakan, we control the Indians via MIC. We are not extreme like PAS. Love to hear your views on this? To th report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 THE POWER BEHIND UMNO ARE THE CHINESE written by Red Ribbon , November 13, 2007 This analysis is flawed. The majority of Malays are not with UMNO. This is a fact, except perhaps for Johore. UMNO's penchant for despicable gerrymandering and the lack of both political will and just plain guts among the supposedly dispossessed Chinese and Indians are the factors that keep this corrupt government in power. Which is why no one takes the non-Malays seriously in this country. It will be no different in the next election. Malaysia is doomed not because of its Malays but because of its non-Malays. Providing voting rights to them by the British may have been a mistake…… report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 The myth that Malays all support the government written by Yahya , November 13, 2007 "It is undeniable, however, that a significant percentage of the yellow-clad demonstrators were ethnic Malays, who traditionally have not been a part of the opposition." This is actually a myth - many Malays support the opposition which is why the only Malaysian state in the federation with an opposition party in government is Kelantan, which is more than 90% Malay. In 2004, mainly Malay parties PAS and Keadilan attracted 1.7 million votes which got them just 8 seats in the parliament whereas the 2.4 million who voted for UMNO (the only government party that is Malay-based) got 109 seats. So Malays actually support the opposition in large numbers; it's just their votes count for little thanks to the outrageous gerrymandering in favour of UMNO. Many have said that in 1999 the majority of Malays voted for the opposition and that UMNO was kept in power thanks to Chinese and Indian votes. This was hidden by the government by not releasing breakdowns for the component Barisan Nasional parties. The reality is, while Chinese and Indian voters in Malaysia like to bleat about the government privately and to foreigners, when it comes to the election, most fall solidly behind the government - the brave people in the DAP excepted. UMNO loves to perpetuate the myth that opposition to them is Chinese because it suits their racist agenda and claim to represent all Malays - in reality, many, many Malays oppose them. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Your ANALysis reveals a loose sphincter, Mat Salleh written by Antares , November 12, 2007 It may once have been fashionable, indeed de rigueur in journalistic circles, to sound worldly-wise and cynical, Mat Salleh, but your business-as-usual mindset has become part of the problem, not part of the solution. Are you too old to have ideals? Must you reduce everything in life to the Bottom Line by viewing the world through that primly puckered aperture in your nether regions? Do you truly believe you can get away with pretending to be "objective" in an observer-created universe? What comes across in your opinion piece is that you subscribe to a belief in politics-as-usual, failing to see the significance of such a massive turnout for the 10 November march. And, in this instance, what's genuinely important isn't the expected Umno infighting - or the rulers' sophisticated mummery - it's the fact that so many Malaysians from across the racialand social spectrum overcame their own fear and inertia to show the BN that they will no longer be intimidated by the police nor will they be placated by pious platitudes and empty promises of clean and efficient government. Without the police roadblocks and the turning away of dozens of buses at the outskirts of KL, the crowd on Saturday may well have exceeded 100,000 - and that's a REAL phenomenon when you consider the climate of fear Malaysians have lived under for 20 years. I'm so glad I was there to witness so many Malaysians break free of the shackles of their own fear. And FEAR is the only power any oppressive government can wield over people - the power to terrorize and paralyze them via the mass media. You are doing us all a gross injustice by belittling this simple act of bravery consciously undertaken by at least 50,000 Malaysians. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Show/Hide comment form Write comment Name Website Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage. Write the displayed characters

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