It's easy to be clairvoyant after the fact, but Malaysia's ruling coalition should have known the end to their almost absolute rule was near. On Saturday, history was made when the National Front, a coalition of 11 minor political parties and three major ones, lost much of its popular support. While remaining the ruling party, it is without its two-thirds majority in the Parliament for the first time since independence in 1957. This means it can no longer amend the constitution at will.
It also lost a record five states, including the industrial states of Penang and Selangor, as well as the federal capital city Kuala Lumpur.
Among the political casualties are leaders of the ethnic Indian party in the coalition, including its president S. Samy Vellu, who was one of Malaysia's longest-serving politicians. He has already generated a few political obituaries. Other losses include Cabinet ministers Sharizat Jalil and Zainuddin Maidin.
"The people have spoken," said Tian Chua, information chief of the opposition People's Justice Party (PKR), which has emerged as the leading opposition party.
Some analysts choose to see it as a maturing of voters, able to go beyond racial politics that have been the blueprint for electoral victory in Malaysia. But, more significantly, others see it as the people's way of showing they had had enough of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's weak leadership, which they blame for rising inflation, crime and racial discrimination.
The results were a far cry from the 2004 elections, which saw the National Front win 91 per cent of the seats. Badawi, their saviour in the 2004 election, has turned into an albatross. "He let us down," said Noor, a Malaysian in Dubai, adding Badawi had been sleeping on the job.
Race issue
Going into the elections, Badawi already had a few strikes against him. There was the race issue, stoked by decades of affirmative action policies that favour the Muslim-Malay majority, from education to government contracts over other ethnic minorities, including the Chinese and Indians.
Always simmering underneath the crust of Malaysian politics and society, the issue finally came to a head in November last year with a mass demonstration by ethnic Indians, who say the policies have left them in poverty. Concerned urban Malays also defected, choosing multi-racial PKR instead.
Even a glossy economic outlook failed to entice the voters, who saw little benefit trickling down to them despite a recent government report that the economy grew 7.3 per cent. And the rising street crime rate has made the Islamist party PAS more appealing, with its notions of a just and moral society, in accordance with Islamic principles.
Too many people have been disillusioned by Badawi, who had four years to make good on his reformist, anti-graft agenda. Many of the policies he instituted became just symbolic gestures, such as a movement to incorporate Islamic principles to further progress, and an accountability programme requiring the public to assess public officials, including ministers.
"Abdullah [became] the epitome of bad things that leaders can do. People feel they had enough of all the rhetoric and lies," Tian Chu told Gulf News.
There is now some talk that Badawi should resign, although he has denied any pressure or intent to do so. But the dismal electoral performance - coupled with the fact that this is also the time United Malays National Organisation, the leading political party in the ruling coalition, holds party elections - may ensure that talk may finally translate into action.
