Malaysians will remember 2018 as a watershed and momentous year. May 9 witnessed a peaceful transition of power which saw the 61-year-old Umno-led regime overthrown and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad re-emerge as the seventh Prime Minister.
The change of government was smooth and non-violent, thanks to the professionalism of our bureaucrats, high patriotism of our security forces and most of all the maturity of the voters.
History has shown that chaos, violence and a long period of anarchy often followed the overthrow of an authoritarian regime. The sympathisers of the former government always try to make a comeback by any means.
What took place on May 9 did not actually happen overnight. The move towards it can be traced back to three general elections starting from 2008 when Barisan Nasional (BN) lost five states to the opposition, to 2013 when the BN was unable to win back the states that they lost previously (accept Kedah), and eventually ended with a seismic fall in 2018.
Political observers might argue that May 9 was a triumph of the electoral strategy of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the inability of Umno to cope with the changes in Malay socio-political attitude since early 2000.
Government policies, globalisation and the emergence of new technologies have changed the Malays making them different from their previous generations. Modernity has become part of their cultural values. Democracy, diversity, integrity, good governance and reform were no longer an anathema to them especially those in the middle class.
” Government policies, globalisation and the emergence of new technologies have changed the Malays making them different from their previous generations. Modernity has become part of their cultural values. “
Dr Mahathir’s successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and later Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, failed to notice these changes and exaggerated claims to reform through Islam Hadhari and 1Malaysia transformation programme. After winning the 2008 and 2013 general elections they began allowing their parties and followers to veer as far to the right as they dared, repeated the ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) mantra and further isolated other BN component parties such as MCA and MIC from non-Malay voters.
Post-GE13 studies indicated that Malays in general were concerned with the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the cost of living and the 1MDB fiasco, and less concerned with ketuanan Melayu issues. They felt that ketuanan Melayu was well-protected by the federal and state constitutions and was therefore less important compared to other more pressing economic issues.
But Umno and BN leaders were so busy protecting their own interests that they failed to notice the changes in Malay cultural values, especially the urban middle class. That was why the BN battle cry, “We will lose everything if BN failed to form the government after GE14,” did not work and was rejected.
After noticing that Najib was not concerned about issues such as the cost of living and political integrity as shown by the 1MDB scandal, Dr Mahathir decided to enter the fray and agreed to chair the newly formed Pakatan Harapan (PH) in which he joined forces with Anwar to topple the BN regime.
Recently, at the closing ceremony of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM or Bersatu) annual assembly Dr Mahathir reiterated his promise to be prime minister for two years only.
As in other countries that have undergone regime changes, the old will not go away automatically. This was what we witnessed at a December 8 rally at Dataran Merdeka jointly organised by Umno and PAS. Religiously driven ethno-sectarian Malays have a prospect for brutal confrontation with the PH which seems to champion social democratic pluralism.
Recent development which included ‘friendly fire’ among PH component party leaders, infighting within PKR, the exodus of Umno MPs and their efforts to join Bersatu, and other political goings-on forced the strategists and thinkers in PH to call their leaders to act more like statespersons rather than politicians. While politicians only worry about the next election, statespersons care about future generations.
The PH government must govern for all Malaysians regardless of political affiliations.
Malaysians want more extensive reforms in 2019. So far, after nearly eight months, the PH has shown the will to implement reforms in selected areas including empowering the parliament, curtailing the power of the prime minister, expanding the freedom of the press and student unions, empowering the MACC and increasing professionalism in the administrative services.
Unfortunately, the main reform agenda (especially in the economy) such as reduction of the cost of living, tackling both urban and rural poverty, reducing income inequality, creating more job opportunities, reducing dependency on foreign workers and making government-linked companies (GLCs) more transparent have not been carried out.
The future of PH rests on its ability to carry out the reform agenda and improve the well-being of the citizens.
When PH formed the federal government after May 9, those who have fought for the implementation of the coalition’s reform agenda finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. The question now is, “How long is the tunnel?”
• Dr Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali is a senior lecturer and a political analyst at Universiti Malaya.
