Elections In Malaysia

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31984, 10 May 1969, Page 12

Elections In Malaysia

Racial antipathies cut deeply and confusingly into Malaysian politics. Thirteen Government and Opposition parties will participate in today’s General Election; and it is difficult to find out which parties command particular loyalties. Some may yet try to boycott the election. The Labour Party has been urging the Chinese voters to abstain as a protest against what they regard as the pro-Malay orientation of the governing coalition in Kuala Lumpur. What is certain is that racial and religious issues win be dominant; the economic issues are less clearly outlined and understood. The parties agreed last month on a “code of “ electoral conduct ”. There would be no name-calling, no exploitation of racial or religious differences, no recourse to violence during the campaign. Two fatal shootings have nevertheless occurred, when police fired on youths painting slogans. It was the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman (never a tolerant man when opposed), who alleged that the Government in Singapore was financing a campaign to split the Malay vote and thus weaken the larger of the two Malay parties, the United Malays National Organisation, which is an important element in the ruling alliance. In spite of the uncertainties inevitable in a society so complicated by race and creed, the Alliance —a patchwork association of groups representing Malays, Chinese, and Indians—is expected to stay in office. It is likely to lose Penang, the Borneo state of Sarawak—where Communist influences have been at work for some time—and possibly Perlis and Trengganu, in Peninsula Malaya. In the north-east, the only Opposition-controlled state, Kelantan, is not expected to change its loyalty to the Malayan Islamic Party, which, after ruling the state for 10 years, now faces a strong challenge from the Malays National Organisation. This organisation leads the coalition and has made a bid for support in Kelantan with promises of large sums to be spent on development in the next few years.

An example of the instability of Malayan politics is provided in Trengganu, where a Malay millionaire has defected from the Malays National Organisation to join the Islamic Party. If his retainers follow his example, as they may do under instruction, the state might be lost to the Government Indeed, file coalition is under strain in many parts of the electorate. The major struggle, as in the past will be between the Malays and the Chinese. The Islamic Party asserts that. Malay rights have in large measure been transferred to the Chinese; The Democratic Action 'Party asserts that the Chinese have suffered a serious'loss of democratic rights in the legislation designed to limit their commercial influence. Clearly only a multiracial government can meet the needs of a society with such a mixture of colour, language, and religion Rivalries and tensions notwithstanding, Malaysia is a more cohesive entity than Indonesia. Even so, today’s elections are likely to demonstrate that political solutions are found no more easily in Kuala Lumpur than in Djakarta.