Alliance Set-back In Malaysia Polls

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31985, 12 May 1969, Page 13

Alliance Set-back In Malaysia Polls

(From DAVID EXEL. N.Z.P.A. staff correspondent)

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11. Voters in Malaysia last night returned a stunning rebuke to the Alliance Government for past complacency.

Left-of-Centre Chinese political groups, and Malay extremists both gained ground at the expense of Tunku Abdul Rahman’s tri-racial Alliance coalition. Three Government ministers were defeated outright at the polls, and the Government ended the vote-counting with narrowly-won control of only seven out of 11 states, and a majority well short of the expected two-thirds in the Federal Parliament.

Control of State governments passed to opposition groups in Penang and Perak; the extremist Pan Malayan Islamic Party retained its hold in Kelantan; and in Selangor, a Left-wing independent candidate held the power to deadlock the State government.

.Although the Alliance had a walk-over in a majority of seats in Sabah, more bad news for the governing party is expected when votes are finally counted in Sarawak on June 7.

The majority of the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was slashed by more than 7000 votes. Two other cabinet Ministers were returned with margins of less than 500 votes. Foreign observers were mostly caught up in the infectious enthusiasm of the crowds which stayed up all night in Kuala Lumpur to cheer each victory over the Alliance. The opinion of the electorate that the Alliance needs a check to its increasingly Malay-oriented Government—is shared by most foreigners. A potentially disturbing feature of the results was the obvious polarisation of political issues round the basic racial hostility between Malays and Chinese. But on election morning, even this seemed to have its optimistic side. The election campaign, fiercely racist in many areas, showed that Malays and Chinese have not lost faith in their ability to right “racial wrongs” by the ballot box rather than by bloody street riots. Boycott Ordered The Communist - leaning Labour Party had ordered a boycott of the polls to demonstrate that the “extra-Parlia-mentary struggle" was the only “realistic" way of gaining political influence for the unrepresented mass of Chinese. The boycott was certainly nartiallv effective—it helped the Alliance win several seats by reducing the total votes for Left-wing parties—but over-all polling was high, and Left-wing groups showed their independence of demiCommunist support. The main casualty of the massive voting swing was the Malaysian Chinese Association. a branch of the Alliance which young Chinese have said for years existed only to protect the interests of wealthy “Towkays” straits-born Chinese businessmen who control much of the country’s economy. The hero of the election was undoubtedly Dr Tan Chee Khoon, who broke away from the Labour Party last year to form a more moderate grouping, the Gerakan Ra’ayat. His party swept the polls in Penang, and proved its multiracial capabilities when a Malay candidate defeated a nominee of the United Malay National Organisation (the Malay branch of the Alliance) in a straight fight. Opposition Success Also a strong victor was the Democratic Action Party, modelled on the Singapore party led by Lee Kuan Yew. But the real victor in the Malaysian elections was democracy. Campaign bribes, dubious methods of exerting influence by the governing group, and Communist claims that the elections were a sham—all these were swept aside by voters who made their feelings unmistakably clear.

Opposition leaders, many of whom were standing for new parties in electorates which traditionally voted for the Alliance, scored all the really

big margins of the day, often polling double the total of Alliance candidates. An indication of the traumatic shock the results gave to the ruling Alliance Party can be gained from thfe “victory statement” which the Tunku issued to newspapers two days ago. The Tunku thanked his supporters for the “very satisfactory" results, and sympathised with the “losers” in the opposition ranks.

Today, not even the most partisan Alliance leader was willing to call the results “satisfactory”—and the men who possibly deserved sympathy were the well-known Alliance candidates who fell in the electoral swing. The general opinion of local and foreign political analysts is that the election has contributed considerably to Malaysia’s long-term stability, in spite of the short-term difficulties foreseen with such a large number of oppositioncontrolled State governments. For years Malaysians—particularly Chinese—have complained to foreign correspon-

dents about “repressive" Government legislation, including the amendment of the Constitution on several occasions. Such an amendment demands a two-thirds majority in Parliament, which has now been denied the Alliance. At last, the complaints are in the open—in the political arena, rather than in furtive resentments which in the past have sometimes flared into bloody rioting. One of the possible results of the re-orientation of Malaysia’s political scene is closer co-operation with Singapore. If immediate postelection optimism is borne out, New Zealand’s most important ally in South-East Asia will warrant increased confidence in its ability to avoid self-destruction by means of racial hostilities.

The final state of the parties in the Federal Parliament was: Alliance, 77 (including 10 uncontested Sabah seats); Democratic Action Party, 13; Pan Malayan Islamic Party, 12; Gerakan Ra’ayat, eight; People’s Progressive Party, four.