Asian Social Science; Vol. 8, No. 12; 2012 ISSN 1911-2017 E-ISSN 1911-2025 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Problematising the Ethics and Conduct of the Ruling Party during Series of Malaysia’s Post-political Tsunami By-elections Badrul Azmier Mohamed@Bakar1, Mujibu Abd Muis1, Jennifah Nordin1, Mahazril ‘Aini Yaacob1, Chuah Bee Peng2, Zaherawati Zakaria1 & Nazni Noordin1 1 Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Merbok, Malaysia 2 Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, Merbok, Malaysia Correspondence: Zaherawati Zakaria, Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia. Tel: 60-4-442-4312. E-mail:
[email protected] Received: May 29, 2012 Accepted: July 3, 2012 Online Published: September 27, 2012 doi:10.5539/ass.v8n12p284 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v8n12p284 Abstract The ethical aspect of election is inherently an uncommon topic to be brought up for discussion in Malaysia, and more so when it involves the ruling party. Essentially, the ethics of election is in itself an exceptionally rare subject since ethics and politics are not commonly discussed. The ethical dimension of politics is often camouflaged as the seemingly more important and desirable sub-topics of transparency and accountability in the discussion of good governance. This leads to an obvious slant towards administration (even though administration and politics are invariably inextricable). In Malaysia, good governance in politics is classified under the universal values that are in line with the claim for democratization. It has become an issue after 1997 following a few major global and national events specifically the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the sacking of the then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and the 1999 General Election.