Happy 6th anniversary of GE14, Malaysia

 

From Projek Sama

On the sixth anniversary of the historic 14th general election (GE14), Projek Sama congratulates Malaysians for ending one of the world’s longest electoral one-party states in 2018.

We empathise with Malaysians who feel disillusioned and frustrated with broken election promises, the resurgence of corrupt and majoritarian (winner-takes-all) practices, and intensified ethno-religious tensions fanned by irresponsible politicians.

Notwithstanding these disappointments, Malaysia has become better than if Najib Razak had stayed in power and Malaysia had continued to be milked by the multinational pack of wolves in Putrajaya, Abu Dhabi and Wall Street.

Yes, the partial pardon given to Najib has stirred controversy, and there is now talk of him being freed in the name of home detention.

Notwithstanding this, Malaysia has set a great precedent in the rule of law: even a prime minister can and will go to jail when they break the law.

It is baby steps but we are turning the rule of law from theory to reality.

More freedom, more stability?

Our challenge today is to preserve the fruits of democratisation: how can we make Malaysia more stable after getting more freedom following the 2018 change in regime?

Some now believe that more democracy will only bring more instability to Malaysia. They miss the old days of authoritarianism and corruption where things were more controlled and predictable.

At Projek Sama, we believe democracy and stability can go hand-in-hand, but we must know what to change and work strategically towards it.

Firstly, we need to dismantle the majoritarian political structure that drives both political machination and identity politics.

Secondly, we need to build trust across communities so that we can have political stability and social harmony.

Dismantling winner-takes-all practices

Majoritarianism does not refer to the power of the ethnic majority but winner-takes-all practices which allow the winners (the political majority) to maximise their powers, interests and agenda instead of accommodating and reconciling with the losers (political minorities).

Majoritarianism in Malaysia is embodied by the super-powerful federal government, the controlled Dewan Rakyat, the rubber stamp Dewan Negara, the resource-poor state governments, the appointed local governments, the attorney-general who doubles up as the public prosecutor, the highly politicised police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, and the first-past-the-post electoral system, made worse by malapportionment and gerrymandering.

Before 2018, this structure was used to suppress the opposition – both multiethnic and monoethnic – and provide an assurance of Malay political dominance.

When the one-party rule of Umno was replaced by a multiethnic government in 2018, the majoritarian structure stayed intact and caused a deep fear among Malay-Muslims that they would lose political, economic and social powers.

This eventually paved the way for the Sheraton Move.

Now that we have a replay of 2018 – a multiethnic government facing a monoethnic opposition – dismantling majoritarianism is needed to alleviate the Malay-Muslims’ majority, create a level playing field and encourage competition of policy ideas.

We call on the parties in both the government and opposition to negotiate a cross-party roadmap of institutional reforms that would strengthen the four pillars of our political structure: constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, rule of law and federalism.

Unless politicians and political parties are incentivised to compete on policy ideas, they will fall back on identity politics (whether ethnicity, religion, language, region or lifestyle) and patronage, which would eventually be detrimental to the future of all Malaysians.

Building trust across communities

We must also build trust across communities as society is being torn apart by toxic majoritarian politics and international geopolitical conflicts.

If we do not defuse communal tensions wisely, we will sink into culture wars like the ones that have torn countries in the Americas and Europe apart and derailed their economy.

To keep our society stable and harmonious, we must promote both empathy and strategic thinking. Malaysians must learn to translate anger and frustration into strategic thinking, expression and actions.

We must also fight off conspiracy theories, misinformation and cynicism. Together, we can build trust across communities, as in the “Maaf Zahir Batin 365 days” (#MZB365) initiative spearheaded by civil society groups and media houses.

We have each other as best companion

Neither dismantling majoritarianism nor building trust across communities would be easy. But Malaysians can and will rise to the occasion when the going gets tough.

In the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysians launched the beautiful “Kita Jaga Kita” movement to help each other.

When our lives and livelihood were threatened by a deadly virus, we united and fought back. There was no room for the culture warmongers.

Projek Sama has full confidence in the wisdom, compassion and courage of ordinary Malaysians. Like digital technology, democratisation gives us more freedom. We can and will make the country more stable.

Let not the setbacks before our eyes wear down our determination to make the country better as Malaysians have shown in the five mass rallies by the electoral watchdog, Bersih.

In this common journey for a better future, we have each other as the best companion. We will do it again.

Happy May 9, Malaysia! - FMT

 Projek Sama is an NGO that advocates institutional reforms.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.