Harold Crouch : Government and Society in

Malaysia
Chap. 3 The Government
The continuity based on the essential stability of the
government, despite constant political tensions and
occasional upheavals
Government form of semipermanent coalition of
representatives from the main communal groups
From Alliance to Barisan Nasional
oProblem: lay not so much in the relations between the
leaders of UMNO, MCA & MIC
oPurposes of formation of the BN
a. Bringing former opposition parties into the government
b. BN allowed UMNO to consolidate further its control over
the government.

The Constituent Parties

oThe Alliance:
oPortrayed as defenders of upper-class interests
oExploit communal issues to win votes look to
the material needs of their supporters
oPatronage machines distributing - to ensure a
winning margin of votes
UMNO
oDistribution of patronage consolidating support
within a political party & a source of dissension
oNEP produced business opportunities
oIdeology expressed in terms of Malay privileges
& domination

o Won - universal approval from the entire

Malay community

The Peninsular Non-Malay Parties

oConcerned with serving elite interests in the Chinese &
Indian communities
oProviding benefits to non-elite classes to mobilize
electoral support
oPreserve the non-Malay position constant threat
MCA
o1959 - internal crisis; Dr. Lim Chong Eu
a.Party continued to espouse causes
b.Many Chinese recognized that it did have an established
position in government and access to UMNO leaders
c.The memory of 1969 remained vivid
Gerakan
o.Never abandoned its multicommunal ideology
o.1982 recruited several prominent activities in the
Chinese education movement Koh Tsu Koon

MIC
o Less confident & felt the need for leaders who
had close ties with government
o Indian plantation workers need patron;
o to protect them in times of need & vulnerable
to retribution if they sided with the opposition
Peninsula
Parties dominated by the elites of the ethnic
communities low level of political
sophistication & mobilization
Under less pressure to ensure the material
well being of ordinary voters
East Malaysia
Patronage politics concentrated on the elite
and revolved to a large extent around timber
concessions

Responsiveness of the BN parties to societal

pressures enhanced by the intraparty rivalries
a. Intraparty factionalism
Centered on personal rivalries & distribution of
patronage
Respond to grassroots aspirations & expectation
b. Intraparty competition
Responsive to the demands & expectations of
their grassroots supporters
o.Ensured that Malay interests would always be
emphasized
o.Non-Malay interests could not totally ignored
o.BN cohesive enough to defeat opposition
parties in election but not enough to repress
opposition altogether

SOCIETY IN MALAYSIA
CHAP. 4 OPPOSITION PARTIES & ELECTION
1963;
a.Bias

of the electoral system against nonbumiputeras in peninsula was reinforced by the

inclusion of the 2 East Malaysian states
b.Electoral system contained built-in advantages for
the Malay community
c.Electoral system ensured Malay domination did
not guarantee victory for the current governing
coalition
.1974 mobilizing support;
a.Banning open-air public rallies
b.Permitted to hold indoor ceramah (talk) sessions
with much smaller audiences
The Opposition Parties
o.Always maintained solid

The Malay Opposition

PAS remain control
a. Kelantan
b. Continued as major force in Terengganu
c. Expanded its influence in Kedah & Perlis
.Pattern of voting behavior:
a. Party stressing religion to be more successfully
b. 4 northern Malay-majority states have a greater sense
of separate identity in contrast with other states with
large non-Malay communities
c. The pressures on the Malay community to remain
united politically would be less strong in states
(majority is Malay)
.Claimed that UMNO had betrayed both the Islamic &
Malay struggle
Close association with non-Malay partners in the
Alliance

 PAS

embarked on an Islamization policy adoption of

Islamic criminal law
New penal code hudud penalties
National constitution set limits on the types of
penalties that could be imposed by state law in
criminal matters
National government not willing to change the
constitutions
1970s & 80s : PAS attracted significant support among
urban & rural Malays
Influx under the NEP
Malay migrants from rural areas to town
Migrants might be more traditionally religious
Migrants in urban squatter areas might feel
disoriented & frustrated in their new environment

The Non-Malay Opposition

The Chinese were divided between
Who believed that the community had no
alternative to accepting Malay political
domination
Believed that the Chinese should assert
themselves in defense of their rights
DAP got its support from non-Malays
Aligned itself with other parties 1982, PSRM;
1990, Semangat 46 to attract Malay votes
Strong in urban areas & new villages major
Chinese community
Disadvantages:
Lack of access to the patronage network
Advantages:
MCA & Gerakan not able to protect the interests
of individual Chinese

Election
Opposition parties - the share of seats undergone
sharp ups and downs but the voters, remained
steady
1995 DAP suffered a devastating loss of both
votes & seats
Mosquito parties (small opposition parties) Appear / reappear at elections, drawing votes
away from the main opposition parties in key
constituencies
Conclusion
Malaysian electoral system could not described as
fair
Elections held regularly & continued to be
vigorously contested by opposition parties
Able to mobilize substantial shares of the votes &
win power at the state level

MALAYSIA TOWARDS A TOPOLOGY OF AN ELECTORAL

ONE-PARTY STATE
CHIN HUAT WONG, JAMES CHIN & NORANI OTHMAN
1. Introduction
. Democratic status of Malaysia is plagued by 2 issues:
a. Elections have not been free and fair
b. Never experienced party alternation
. Electoral one-party state:
a. Help to understand both the democratization prospect

of Malaysia
b. Intermediate regime type between democratic oneparty predominance and de jure one-party states
. Pempel - uncommon democracies
. Dominant party plays the game well to keep itself in

power
It can continue enacting and implementing policies
which reinforce its power base

2. The emergence and growth of a dominant party

o Malaysia - Arguably free to form a party &
participate in elections
o Winning support in elections & co-opting other
parties before/after elections
The competition for dominance, 1952-1969
2 developments that substantially shaped political
landscape before 1955:
a. Launching of the Malayan Union in 1946
b. Communist insurgency launched in 1948
The post-riot coalition governments (1970-1973)
. 3 goals:
a. Reduction of politicking ethnic harmony &
improve Malays economic
b. Modification of Westminster Democracy to fit
better with Malaysias socio-political reality
The grand coalition Barisan Nasional (1974-now)

Sartori hegemonic party allocates administrative,

parliamentary & governmental positions to the second-class
parties
3. The construction and maintenance of electoral dominance
a. Control of enfranchisement
Government tighten the procedure for citizenship application

b. Changes of international and interstate boundaries

To ensure the dominance of Bumiputera allocation of

parliamentary seats in Sarawak & Sabah

Malaysias boundary was redrawn to protect the alliances

dominance
Partitions to safeguard electoral power-base

c. Mal-apportionment and gerrymandering of constituencies

To discriminate against the Malay-based oppositions
Effect severe violation of the one person one vote principle

d. Other electoral irregularities

Phantom voters
Omission & involuntary transfer of voters
Non-transparency in postal voting

4. The blurring of state and party lines

Aspect of the state-party fusion
a. Ideology
b. Economy redistribution
c. Politicization of state institution
The erosion of federalism
.4 tactics to eliminate their state-level rivals
a. Administrative & economic discrimination against
the state governments
b. Political persecution including selective
investigation and persecution
c. Triggering defection of opposition lawmakers
d. Direct federal intervention

The demise of local democracy

a. Deprives the electorate & the opposition parties
the experience of regime change
b. Inhibits centripetal competition
c. Reduce the weighting of patronage in federal &
state politics
5. Prospects and conclusion
d. Electoral & administrative features of UMNOs
electoral one-party state remained intact after
the 2008 elections
e. Electoral one-party state may stay beyond the
lifespan of the dominant party
.Challenges for Malaysias democratization
a. Socio-political level to necessitate & sustain 2
multiethnic coalitions/blocs
b. Institutional level prevented from perpetuating