5127 / RM3.00 / 2003:Vol.23No.7
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PP3739/12/2003 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM3.00 / 2003:Vol.23No.7 Aliran Monthly : Vol.23(7) Page 1 COVER STORY The Keadilan-PRM Merger New Politics And A New Party A fresh start to the promotion of a new non-communal approach to Malaysian politics by Muzaffar Tate t last it happened. On Many people questioned the ben- Such considerations are beside the AA the morning of 3 August efits that Keadilan could hope to point. The justification for the AAA 2003 at the Chinese As- get by joining forces with the PRM, merger and its significance lie sembly Hall in Kuala which despite its valiant record within the larger context of Lumpur the merger between Parti of struggle for the causes of de- Malaysian politics. Keadilan Nasional and Parti mocracy and social justice had Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) formally remained very small and had In brief, since 1957 Malaysian took place and the new Parti fared miserably in past elections. politics has been characterized by Keadilan Rakyat or Peoples’ Jus- On the other side, there were those two things: communalism and a tice Party came into being. Before who wondered whether the PRM steadily increasing authoritarian- a gathering of around 2,000 peo- would betray its principles by ism. ple, Datin Seri Wan Azizah was merging with a party, the bulk of proclaimed its president and Dr whose members were certainly Communal Politics Syed Husin Ali its deputy presi- not socialists. dent. The vice-presidents and The dynamic of communal poli- committee members were selected There were other more immediate tics has been the key to the whole from both of the two merging par- practical problems to be consid- system. The ruling coalition, ties. ered in what was a coming to- which has been in power since gether of two parties of differing 1957, consists of political parties This is not a union that has come strengths, including representa- that represent communal interests about easily. Right from the out- tion at supreme council level, the rather than national ones. Over set, the proposal was a controver- allocation of seats at election time, this period of time it has modified sial one, arousing a considerable issues of finance, and so on. itself. The 3-party Alliance of yes- amount of doubt and criticism. teryear in which UMNO was the Aliran Monthly : Vol.23(7) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE In our lead article, Muzaffar Tate looks at the merger of Parti Keadilan Nasional and Parti Rakyat Ma- CONTENTS laysia to create Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The merger provides a significant fresh start to the promotion of a new non-communal approach to politics in Ma- COVER STORY laysia - an opportunity that does not come often. ••• New Politics And A New Party 222 Aliran welcomes this new politics. In our previous issue of AM, we had begun to dis- FEATURES cuss the emergence of new politics and the coming ••• Sabah: All Quiet On The Eastern general election. This time around, Abang Benet Front?Front?Front? 666 suggests that there might be keen contests in several ••• Sarawak: Keen Contests In Urban urban areas in Sarawak, even though the ruling Areas?Areas?Areas? 101010 coalitin is expected to retain power. G Lim predicts ••• Will The Poor Get Justice From that elections in neighbouring Sabah are likely to be The Courts? 131313 a tame affair, but it is not going to be plain sailing for ••• Guthrie Stunned 151515 the ruling coalition. ••• Suhakam: A Warehouse For Reports? 232323 Mustafa K Anuar discusses the pathetic state of the ••• Daily Vs Daily: Challenging Malaysian media in the run-up to the elections The Big Boys 272727 while Ng Tien Eng focuses his attention on a new ••• Media Overkill 282828 Chinese language daily newspaper. ••• A Soft Coup By The Military 303030 ••• Screaming In The Night 404040 In a hair-raising back cover story, Saari Sungib shares with us some of the shocking revelations made by REGULARS several independence era freedom fighters whom he met while criss-crossing the nation on an anti- ••• Current Concerns 171717 ISA road show. ••• Thinking Allowed 191919 P Ramakrishnan looks at how Suhakam has fared OTHERSOTHERSOTHERS in its third year. He warns that Suhakam has to buck ••• Subscription Form 181818 up; otherwise it will be turned into a “warehouse” ••• AppealAppealAppeal 222222 for storing reports on human rights violations. ••• Saudara Ku Ahmad Nor 393939 Across the Straits of Malacca, a massive military operation is taking place in Aceh. This, writes Liem Soei Liong, is confirmation that the military is reas- serting its influence in Jakarta after being subdued by reformasi in 1998. Published by Finally, a reminder: please take out an AM subscrip- tion if you have not already done so. Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, ALIRANALIRANALIRAN is a Reform Movement dedicated to Penang, Malaysia. Justice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on the Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197 roster of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomes Homepage : http://www.aliran.com all Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contact the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage. Printed by Percetakan Tujuh Lapan Enam Sdn. Bhd. No. 16, Lengkangan Brunei, 55100 Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Aliran Monthly : Vol.23(7) Page 3 predominant partner has become the 14-party Barisan Nasional of today, representing a wider range of communal interests, but still dominated by UMNO. The partners in this inter-commu- nal alliance have always been en- gaged in horse-trading over issues in which their interests are in- volved. This has resulted in a se- ries of compromise solutions in which the permanent advantage lies with the largest community and crumbs are left to the small- thoritarianism of the Malaysian Mahathir sought to provide politi- est ones. Evidence of this can be state. In its efforts to retain power cal stability, apparent racial har- seen in the manner in which our the Alliance/Barisan Nasional mony and economic development national system of education has has retained and fine-tuned the and prosperity. evolved, in the way in which the Internal Security Act (ISA), and government has sought to eradi- when the occasion demands, to Non-Communal cate poverty, and in its approach imprison its more tiresome oppo- Politics in tackling basic social problems nents. It has also passed and/or such as drug abuse, crime and ju- tightened other legislation that Then in the mid-1990s came the venile delinquency. In other has empowered it to control stu- global financial crisis that ex- words, the political process is dents' activities at the universi- posed the weaknesses and ex- based not on broad principles of ties, to dominate the Press and the cesses of the communal political national relevance but on narrow, other mass media, to make use of alliance. This exposure was communal expediency. government amenities during elec- broadened in the wake of the dis- tion time, and to use patronage missal of Anwar Ibrahim as In the circumstances of the time, and money politics to capture the Mahathir’s deputy prime minis- the political elites adopted a com- popular vote. ter and his subsequent imprison- munal approach to politics to ment. These events revealed the bring together the various ethnic All this has been possible because depths to which cronyism had communities in this country and the Constitution, despite its demo- penetrated the system and the de- present a united front against the cratic safeguards, is riddled with gree of abuse of executive power British in the struggle for inde- so many loopholes that it does not that had taken place at the ex- pendence. That was almost fifty have the capacity to defend the pense of the judiciary. The ensu- years and two generations ago. fundamental rights of the citizens. ing public outrage gave birth to Since then, the communal ap- the Reformasi movement. proach has become so institution- Up till the 1990s, there seemed to alized that its replacement by a be no way in which the ruling The rise of the Reformasi move- more trans-ethnic approach to na- coalition and the system of com- ment was - or should have been - tional problems appears politi- munal politics on which it thrived a turning point in Malaysian poli- cally impossible. could be brought to account and tics. Here was a political move- turned out of power. The ruling ment which immediately won the Authoritarianism coalition’s clout was strengthened support and backing of large when Dr. Mahathir Mohamad be- numbers of Malays, Chinese and At the same time, the process of came prime minister in 1981. A bril- Indians (it was essentially a Pe- institutionalizing the communal liant political strategist, a man ninsula affair) from both the alliance has been closely associ- with vision and sense of purpose lower- and middle-classes, and ated with the steadily growing au- who would brook no opposition, which also enjoyed support from Aliran Monthly : Vol.23(7) Page 4 a large number of those from the as a symbol of stability and firm professions. It demanded ac- leadership at home against the countability and transparency in perils of terrorism and religious government, freedom from politi- extremism. The Reformasi move- cal interference for the judiciary, ment found the wind taken out of the abolition of undemocratic and its sails. repressive legislation, and social justice. The Barisan Alternatif today sur- vives but is now in rather a bat- In short, it clamoured for a new tered shape. To many outsiders it kind of Malaysian politics would seem that the idealism that founded on issues of principle brought the coalition together in and national interest and not on the first place has evaporated and issues of narrow communal in- that the old-style of communal terest.