Shock election defeats for ruling party in Malaysia
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s ruling coalition suffered its biggest upset in nearly four decades in general elections today, reflecting widespread unhappiness at his failure to curb racial tensions, corruption and inflation.
Mr Abdullah’s National Front lost control of the Penang and Kedah state legislatures, and also failed to wrest control of Kelantan, which until now was the only state under opposition rule. The Front was also set to lose Selangor state to the opposition.
It was one of the most humiliating defeats for the National Front, which has governed Malaysia since independence in 1957, and raises questions about the 68-year-old Mr Abdullah’s political future and his management style.
“We suffered a lot of losses tonight,” Mr Abdullah’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters. “But we are going to fight on. We are not going to quit. It is not the end of the world and we are going to get through this.”
The results will spoil the Front’s expected victory at the federal level, where it is expected to easily win a majority of the 222 seats in Parliament.
According to partial results declared by the Election Commission, the National Front won 60 parliamentary seats in addition to the eight it had won earlier unopposed.
For the opposition, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) won eight seats, the Islamic Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, got seven, and the People’s Justice Party won eight.
Final results will only be known early tomorrow.
“It’s a people’s revolution. People are waking up and sending a clear message to the government that enough is enough,” PAS vice president Husam Musa told reporters as party workers held boisterous celebrations.
Analysts have predicted the opposition would win 35 to 38 seats, nearly doubling its 19 seats in the outgoing Parliament.
Mr Abdullah retained his parliamentary seat, but with a sharply reduced majority of 11,246 votes compared to 18,122 votes in the previous elections in 2004.
Mr Abdullah conceded defeat for National Front in many constituencies, The Star newspaper said on its website. It quoted him as saying that this was evidence of democracy at work, and urging people to remain calm and not celebrate in the streets.
A key issue in the elections was the disillusionment among the minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, who have complained about religious discrimination and a 37-year-old affirmative action programme that gives the majority Muslim Malays preference in government jobs, business and education.
In addition, many Malaysians, regardless of race, were angry with Mr Abdullah over rising prices, corruption and crime.
First-time voter Michael Lim said he voted for an opposition party.
“They have not taken care of the people,” he said in Kuala Lumpur. “A lot of promises were made, but nothing (was) fulfilled.”
Malays make up 60% of Malaysia’s 27 million people, Chinese account for 25% and Indians 8%.
Each community is represented by its party in the National Front in a unique power-sharing arrangement.
Minorities say their parties have become subservient to Mr Abdullah’s United Malays National Organisation, which dominates the Front. UMNO also appears to have lost the support of some Malays, which was evident in Kelantan and Kedah, predominantly Malay states.
“We won because we fought for the truth and because UMNO is too excessive. They insult the people and they insult democracy. People are disgusted,” said Nik Aziz Nik Mat, 77, the spiritual leader of PAS and chief minister of Kelantan state.
“I am very stunned. It is so unexpected. God’s power is great. It is a tsunami,” Nik Aziz said.
PAS won 39 of the 45 seats in Kelantan state, and in alliance with People’s Justice Party took 22 out of the 36 seats in the state legislature in Kedah. PAS has been in power in Kelantan for the last 18 years, and it was the only state not under the National Front’s control.
The biggest shock for the National Front was, however, in Penang, Malaysia’s only Chinese-majority state and its industrial heartland.
The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party and the People’s Justice Party won a simple majority in the 40-member Penang assembly, said Chow Kon Yeow, the DAP’s top official in Penang.
Mr Chow said Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon spoke to him on the phone and conceded defeat. Mr Koh is a leader of Gerakan party, a component of the National Front coalition that has been in control of Malaysia’s federal government since 1957 and of Penang since 1969.
The opposition gains are due to the unprecedented electoral alliance forged by the DAP, PAS and the People’s Justice Party of former Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The alliance agreed to field only one candidate against the National Front to prevent multi-cornered contests, which in the past had divided opposition votes.
At least three government ministers lost their parliamentary seats, including Samy Vellu, the only ethnic Indian in the Cabinet.
