Comments

Hi Moses,

“When was the last opposition politician detained under ISA? It hasn’t happened for over 10 years.” (Teresa Kok, Sin Chew reporter arrested under ISA)

“Instead, the opposition now enjoys significantly more freedoms: it is allowed to publish regular newspapers; it furthers its causes through the unregulated online media” (DAP’s rocket to go on) (they tried.. what freedom?)

“But Western commentators need to understand that BN’s success is to a large extent due to what many Malaysians see as its record as a government that lifted millions out of poverty” "
<– you sure don't mind if inequality is increasing do you?

Western commentators?.. now you are taking shots at them?.. what about local commentators? http://www.dailychilli.com/news/10779-mp-msian-men-have-affairs-as-wives-neglect-duty <– there, your local commentator… you are implying "Western" commentators do not understand the situation in Malaysia.. please… don't… underestimate… us.. BN lifted millions out of poverty by______ ????? .. A. Doing their job B. Exchanging a needs based policy with a race based policy C. what do you say that we need to "understand" that its the GOV's friggin job to life millions' out of poverty… you earn $1 above your poverty line.. and that is called lifting millions out of poverty?.. what about the $$ being squandered into sending spaceman into space?

Too much academic talk… too little thinking…

Re: the “р╣Др╕бр╣Ир╕гр╕▒р╕Бр╕Юр╣Ир╕ня╗┐ р╕Вр╕нр╣Гр╕лр╣Йр╕нр╕нр╕Бр╣Др╕Ы!” comment.

It’s now received 8 likes. But surely it means: “[if you] don’t love the father, please get out!” Seems to be a reference to Pongpat Wachirabanjong’s acceptance speech at the media awards last year (http://asiancorrespondent.com/32505/pongpats-speech/).

Am I missing something?

Or are you suggesting the writer is being subversive by writing an ostensibly pro-royalist comment that is in fact meant to be taken another way?

THARN Nich,

I help translate NM short articles and comments to many of my NE Thai friends. They believe NM and many of its visitors are pro-Red.

When they were told that AW was probably the traslator for Tharn Jaran, they said it made no difference.LUUK NONG DEIU KAN. (They serve the same mASTeR.)

Hi Greg, Moses,

A couple of observations.

While I agree with Moses that Greg has made some sweeping assertions, I think most of these can be backed up by looking at the record.

In terms of the disproportionate weight of rural constituencies, even though an urbanite (KL born and bred) myself, I understand the moral impetus behind this – as enunciated by early ECs. Disenfranchisement due to poverty, lack of education etc certainly was more likely to occur in rural than in urban areas – though I suspect that with the rapidly increasing urban poor population in Malaysia, the rationale behind this may be fading. However, as noted in ‘Democracy in Malaysia’ ed. by Noraini Othman and Mavis Puthucheary (I’ve lent out my copy so can’t check the exact reference, I’m afraid), the EC has not been consistent in enabling rural voters – the main consistency has been in enabling BN voters. This is less of a problem in a democracy where power has alternated between parties/ coalitions, than in a country where the same coalition has been in power since elections were first held, where the same trends are reinforced at every re-delineation, and where parties that are not in power have very little recourse to justice.

Again, it is well within the parameters of accepted legal and democratic practice for a hostile Federal Govt to make life difficult for State govts. But I think the best example of where the Malaysian FEderal Govt went way beyond acceptable bounds of ‘making life difficult’ was with the Terengganu State Govt that was elected in 1999, led by PAS. The evidently illegal decision to withhold petroleum royalties and to channel these funds through the Federal Govt lead to the State Govt not even being able to afford to pay for basic services, never mind the promised programme of reform. The shredding of documents when there was a change of power in Penang and Selangor, the obstruction of governance by federally-funded civil servants – all these go beyond what would be legal in Australia. As to what happened in Perak, the legality of what occurred, in particular the role of the monarchy, has been the subject of much debate both inside and outside the courts – the decisions in these cases were seen by many (including myself) as evidence both of the importance of the courts in upholding democracy and the continuing lack of independence, making evident their inability to play that important role.

It should also perhaps be noted that the government has deliberately curtailed the power of the courts in the electoral process – for example, by removing the right to legally challenge the validity of the electoral roll. Also in terms of decisions, the judiciary is not a uniform edifice or structure – there is room for some judges to occasionally exercise courage and independence. What shows the problems within the system is the fate of these judges after showing courage – look at the fate of the judge who signed off on the Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani Haron habeas corpus applications. This and the systemic problems of appointments to lower courts, etc. In politically vital cases (such as Perak, AI etc), it is rare for the final decision to go against the government, when it counts (noting the success of Anwar’s appeals when it is no longer strategic).

Are any of these election practices ‘fraudulent’? Not necessarily in the legal context of Malaysia. But I think there is a strong case to be made that there fall far short of any reasonable standard of democracy. However, this does not mean that there are *not* fraudulent activities, in terms of phantom voters, etc. As anecdotal evidence, in 1999, my father went to the polling booth to vote, and found he had already voted. And they allowed him to vote again. This was in the vital Shahrizat vs Zainur Zakaria constituency. He made a police report, and there was no follow-up. He was not the only disaffected voter at the police station at the time. The point has always been made that it is unlikely that the level of this type of fraud affects the *overall* outcome of the elections – though it plays a role in individual constituencies.

There are, however, practices that have undoubtedly affected the overall outcome. First is the level of government handouts during election races, which has become increasingly blatant since the Ijok by-election. (Personally, I benefited from increased spending on infrastructure in Ijok as I was living in a neighbouring constituency at the time, but…). Second, the campaign period is a joke. During the 2008 election, it wasn’t even long enough for the EC to organise the election – they complained about it, but then they are officially ‘independent’, and they’re the ones who set the dates. If I’m not mistaken, Malaysia holds the record for the shortest campaign period. This undoubtedly benefits those holding power – those who know when the elections are most likely to be called. Third, the inability and unwillingness of the EC to play a significant role in preventing government equipment being used for electoral purposes and its refusal to take seriously guidelines on campaign finance – both of which benefit the richer parties, ie those in power. FOurth, as Moses notes (and my area of expertise), the lack of a free and vibrant media. And there are plenty more areas that could be mentioned…

I don’t know, and am honestly not interested in, whether Malaysia’s electoral system is better than those of its neighbours or those of ‘Western democracies’. What I’m interested in is how it serves the people and translates their will. And I think it fails in several important respects:
a. The electorate does not have the resources or time to make informed decisions about parties and/ or candidates.
b. The will of the electorate is not reflected in the legislature (in terms of percentage of votes cf power of the parties in the Dewan Rakyat, by which I mean more than just the number of seats).
c. Once elected, there are no checks and balances to ensure that the interests of the people are upheld against a heavily centralised Federal government.

Rather brief summary – but I do think that Greg’s assessment is a reasonably accurate reflection of the situation.

Sonia

This is a very welcome Songkran present and nicely laid out. Assuming there is a Thai language version can you post a link to it please?

Hi Greg

You make some very bold assertions.

“BN has used its coercive powers to overturn electoral results (think Kelantan, Sarawak, Sabah and most recently Perak). There is nothing to suggest that should BN loose the 13th GE, it will not reosrt to violence to restore its power.”

What coercion in Perak? Is there any genuine basis to suggest that the defecting lawmakers were coerced into their defections? Or is this mere speculation? Why has there been no coercion in Kedah, Perak or Selangor? Why are all but one of the dozen-odd defectors since 2008 from PKR? The reason is simple: dissatisfaction with PKR’s senior leadership. PAS and DAP clearly don’t have these problems. It is fair game to try to swing government MPs, unless by bribery or coercion; Anwar Ibrahim boldly declared he would do just that to form government. Your suggestion that BN would resort to violence is equally absurd. You could not publish such assertions academically.

“Furthermore, your suggestion that Malaysia is only marginally worse off than OECD democracies (Australia being one of them) is off the mark. Malaysia is really very far off. Either your not following what’s happening in the country or you believe its alright. ”

In terms of electoral machinery, it isn’t far off the mark at all. In terms of a free press and other measures of a free society, it often is.

“Finally, your suggestion that the opposition has not much to offer misses my point that BN systematically destroys the opposition between elections.

Look at what they do to opposition leaders or civil society leaders in Malaysia – being arrested under ISA. Do you see that in Australia?. Do you see for instance, ALP using state machinery, the judiciary, the police, the military, the Monarchy, religious an racial supremacy to maintain its power? ”

When was the last opposition politician detained under ISA? It hasn’t happened for over 10 years. Instead, the opposition now enjoys significantly more freedoms: it is allowed to publish regular newspapers; it furthers its causes through the unregulated online media.

I do not suggest “BN is better” at all. I don’t have a horse in this race (do you?). But Western commentators need to understand that BN’s success is to a large extent due to what many Malaysians see as its record as a government that lifted millions out of poverty; also to a large extent due to the absence of a genuinely free press (BN’s fault); also to a large extent due to the opposition’s incapabilities; but not to any extent due to electoral fraud.

Interesting view Moses but one that I disagree.

A spectrum i.e. Malaysia is better than its neighbours, better than African countries, better than India, China, etc and that we should be thankful is in my humble view, not the way to approach this problem.

Well elections in Malaysia have not seen the violence in other countries is simple the fact that until now, Malaysians have not had the courage to challenge BN outright. The last time Malaysians did it, May 13 happened.

BN has used its coercive powers to overturn electoral results (think Kelantan, Sarawak, Sabah and most recently Perak). There is nothing to suggest that should BN loose the 13th GE, it will not reosrt to violence to restore its power.

Furthermore, your suggestion that Malaysia is only marginally worse off than OECD democracies (Australia being one of them) is off the mark. Malaysia is really very far off. Either your not following what’s happening in the country or you believe its alright.

Finally, your suggestion that the opposition has not much to offer misses my point that BN systematically destroys the opposition between elections.

Look at what they do to opposition leaders or civil society leaders in Malaysia – being arrested under ISA. Do you see that in Australia?. Do you see for instance, ALP using state machinery, the judiciary, the police, the military, the Monarchy, religious an racial supremacy to maintain its power?

Therefore, until and unless there are free and fair elections, and democratic norms are followed in between elections, your suggestion that BN is better does not merit consideration.

Two things can be done to resolve this:

(1) The best way to determine if Malaysia’s electoral system is fraudulent (or is not) is to allow for independent electoral observers to monitor the election.

(2) The BN government can themselves make the changes demanded by BERSIH.

Then we can decide, if indeed BN is the better government like in any functioning democracy.

Also this suggestion that Malaysia is not a bad country after all, is in all honesty, the biggest problem plaguing Malaysia. If we cannot define the problem and acknowledge it – then we cannot obviously take corrective measures.

Having read the recent post about “Factory tales”, I withdraw my comments that AW posts this to please anybody.

I enjoy reading it but don’t dare to leave a comment on the post. Thanks for posting and good luck to AW!

р╕гр╕▒р╕Бр╣Гр╕Щр╕лр╕ер╕зр╕З – 21

I hope you were joking about just because I think it sound so.

By the way, make no mistake here, although PT party roster is disappointing but I will not vote for Democrat because Democrat is still the representation of the elite.

I still preferred Shinawatra over Vejjajiva and Thugsiban (in terms of management)