PUBLIC FORUM: The Dilemmas of Malay Political Leadership

UMNO, PAS and PKR, the three largest parties headed mainly by Malays in peninsular Malaysia, are united in their degree of unprecedented disarray. While competition amongst highly capable and ambitious leaders within a party is natural and desirable, the simultaneous occurrence of heightened leadership difficulties in all these parties makes clear that the present situation is due to more than the coincidence of clashes of individual ambitions within each party.

The root of the current disarray lies in a number of systemic developments at the end of the 20th century – e.g. a large independent Malay middle class, the change in the regional division of economic roles caused by the rise of China and India, and the globalization of the markets for capital and talents – to which the party leaders have not been able to address adequately and which have caused the Malay community to reconsider what constitutes its best interests.

The facts are that progress in Malaysia has slowed down and the Malay community has become more diverse. The dilemmas of Malay political leadership have hence increased greatly, and along with it, a rise in heated debate and disarray within the Malay leadership of each party.

The 1970 diagnosis of the dilemmas of Malay leadership by Mahathir Mohamad is a convenient starting point for the discussion of the dilemmas faced by Malay leaders today. What have remained the same, and what have changed? What is the way forward for Malay leaders to deliver Vision 2020?

Dato Dr Vaseehar Hassan
Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa
Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah

Date: 17 June 2015 Wednesday
Time: 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 7, Level 1
East Wing, Sunway University (New Building)

Free admission