Opposition Protest Rattles Confidence of Malaysia’s Najib
BY CATHERINE CHENEY, Trend Lines
Over the weekend, tens of thousands Malaysian demonstrators took to the streets to demand electoral reforms from the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Najib Razak. The rally, which ended with Malaysian police arresting more than 450 people amid charges of police brutality, raised questions about whether the government might delay its plans to call early elections.
Although elections do not need to be held until April 2013, Najib, who has been working to improve his image and bolster public support for his ruling coalition, was expected to hold the polls as early as June.
“The enormous turnout indicates that there is strong opposition to the government,” John Funston, a Malaysia expert at Australia National University, told Trend Lines. “Najib must secure a majority that is not less than his predecessor in the 2008 election, and one that preferably gives him a parliamentary majority of at least two-thirds.”
While the 2008 elections allowed the National Front, which has governed Malaysia since its independence from Britain in 1957, to retain power, they provided the opposition with major gains. And Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who preceded Najib as prime minister, lost his position after he failed to obtain a two-third majority in 2008.
Experts say the recent rallies have rattled Najib’s confidence, particularly because of the 2008 results, and also because similar demonstrations staged in July 2011 led to a decline in his popularity.
After last year’s demonstrations, some observers wondered whether Bersih, a group of civil society organizations associated with the opposition coalition that seeks to reform the electoral system in Malaysia, would be able to repeat the same level of participation. But the large turnout for the rallies over the weekend revealed that the coalition has only grown stronger.
“The government will now mobilize all resources to try and prove that Bersih supporters are violent and untrustworthy, and that they will lead the country to ruin. The government has dominant control over the media to do this,” Funston said. “And there will also be further handouts to convince the public that they must remain grateful for what this government has for so long delivered to them.”
In his efforts to increase his own popularity over the past year, Najib has been competing against the momentum of Bersih, or the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections.
“[Bersih] campaigned for eight specific objectives, including cleaning the electoral roll, reforming the postal vote, using indelible ink to mark fingers and prevent repeat voting, developing free and fair access to media, and instituting a minimum 21-day campaign period,” Funston explained.
After the July 2011 protests, Najib established the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to propose measures as part of what Funston calls a surprise and apparently conciliatory move to support electoral reform. However, several of the 22 recommendations the committee presented were problematic.
“The PSC agreed to take these demands into account, and liaised closely with Bersih in drawing up changes,” he said. “But the result was not what Bersih had hoped for.”
Some of the problematic recommendations included expanding the right to cast postal ballots to the media as well as to Election Commission staff. Previously limited to teachers, military personnel and policemen, postal votes have been controversial in the past due to the potential for abuse. The committee also recommended a minimum campaign period of 10 days, which improves upon the current seven-day period, but falls short of the 21 days Bersih requested.
“There are positive elements in the 22 recommendations, but large questions over how and when they might be implemented,” Funston added. “Many of the details surrounding these proposals were controversial.”
For instance, he said, nearly all proposals are expressions of intent without timelines for implementation. And some key election issues are left out, such as the possibility of international observers, which have not been allowed into Malaysia since 1990, explained Funston.
“Bersih has therefore concluded that few of its proposals have been accepted, that some recommendations are a further step backward, and that no serious attempt has been made to carry out electoral reform,” Funston said.
This is what led the group to call for the demonstrations over the weekend, Funston said. If Najib rules out early elections, there will be more time to push forward reforms, both to address the electoral process and to address problems of corruption and racial discrimination, before the next poll.
