Poser on two-party concept in Malaysia

Poser on two-party concept in Malaysia

Posted by Raja Petra
Sunday, 16 March 2008,MT


This raises a question: Are Malaysians witnessing the rise of a two-coalition system paralleling the two-party system in other countries? Or is it just a temporary setback for BN.

The dust has settled in the aftermath of the 2008 general election which returned the Barisan Nasional (BN) to power at the federal level, albeit with only a simple majority in the lower house of parliament (Dewan Rakyat).

The election saw 13 days of intense campaign battles between the BN and the loose opposition front, tagged the people’s front or Barisan Rakyat (BR), formerly known as Barisan Alternatif (BA).

This election marks the best showing ever by the opposition parties - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Democratic Action Party (DAP).

The opposition won a combined tally of 82 parliamentary seats, enough to deny the BN its long held two-third majority.

A historic milestone was also achieved when four states - in addition to Kelantan - fell unexpectedly to the BR.

Not since the 1969 election has the opposition won so many parliamentary and state seats. No doubt, the voter-generated ‘tsunami’ will alter the political landscape in Malaysia.

This raises a question: Are Malaysians witnessing the rise of a two-coalition system paralleling the two-party system in other countries? Or is it just a temporary setback for BN.

Other important issues include urban and rural poverty, high cost of living, imbalanced development, environmental degradation, erosion of civil liberties, restoration of local council elections, corruption, projects awarded under a patronage system, and the list runs on.

Also of significance is the future of the badly mauled BN component parties - the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) and People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

Will several of these parties be consigned to oblivion because of political irrelevance?

The International Institute of Public Policy and Management (Inpuma) forum on ‘The 2008 General Election: Towards a Two-Party Coalition System in Malaysia’ will be held today at Rumah Universiti, Universiti Malaya (UM) in Lembah Pantai here.

Acording to Inpuma, the forum reflects a concern for the need to ponder about the future of Malaysian politics and its course or direction for the next 50 years, and perhaps even beyond.

To this end, Inpuma has invited three speakers with various backgrounds and experience, but who all share the same passion for politics and current issues, to air their views.

Above all, the speakers are avowed non-partisan believers in ‘Malaysia for all Malaysians’ irrespective of race, religion or creed.

The speakers are: Associate Professor Dr Azmi Sharom who teaches International Environmental Law and Conflict of Laws at UM’s Law Faculty; Zainon Ahmad, also known as Pak Non - group executive editor as well as political editor of The Sun; Derek John Fernandez - an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya and a Barrister and Solicitor of Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia.

Dr Azmi is known for his outspoken views, he also writes regularly for the Star newspaper in the column, ‘Brave New World’. His publications include ‘Indigenous People’s Knowledge Systems and Protecting Biodiversity, APC, Kuala Lumpur (2003), ‘Local Authorities and Environmental Protection’ in A Collection of Socio Legal Essays, University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur (1996), ‘Public Interest Litigation in Malaysia: A Practitioners Viewpoint’, Public Interest Law, Louvain-la-Neuve (1998), and ‘The Asean Regional Environmental Protection Framework’, A World Survey of Environmental Law, Milan (1996).

Before joining The Sun, Pak Non was assistant group editor of the New Straits Times. A widely travelled journalist, he majored in History and International Relations at UM, studied newspaper management at the Thomson Foundation, London and was a Visiting Scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, USA.

Besides writing and editing, Pak Non also conducts training for journalists and serves as media consultant at home and abroad. Fernandez specialises in Planning Law. He is presently the legal advisor to 42 Residents’ Association in the Klang Valley, The National House Buyer Association and various NGOs.

He is a trainer for the Malaysian Nature Society and legal advisor to several members of parliament and state assemblymen.

Fernandez is also the chairman of the Joint Action Committee for Bukit Gasing as well as chairman of various working groups set up by the state government in relation to town and country planning and land law.

He was directly involved in the preparation of the State Structure Plan for Selangor and the Structure Plan for Petaling District and the Local Plan for Petaling Jaya.

The moderator is Abdullah Azmi Abd Khalid, holder of BA (Hons) in History with a major in International Relations from UM in 1977, and MA (Hons) in Economic History from the University of Sydney (1981).

He lectured in Economic History until 1995. Subsequently, he left UM Malaya to join TV3 (MRCB Group) until 1999.

He was active in the private sector and was in the pioneer team that established Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of MNRe Bhd.

Currently, Azmi is senior analyst at Inpuma, a post he held since October, 2007.

–Bernama