02/12: Will recent protests in Malaysia delay upcoming elections?

Radio Singapore International

In Perspective this week with me, Melanie Yip.

Tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets in Malaysia on two separate occasions in November.

The first protest took place on 10th November when some 30,000 people from various sectors of society participated in calls for electoral reforms.

In the second and more recent incident, thousands from the Indian community staged their anti-government protests near the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, voicing their concerns about marginalization of their community.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar from the Global Studies Faculty at Universiti Sains Malaysia explains the reasons for the protests by the Indian community.

CM: Indians are fairly well-presented in professions like law and medicine for instance, there's been some mobility, but at the same time, it's true that as a result of the disintegration of the plantation economy, rubber estates in particular from an earlier period, there has been a certain decline in the situation of the Indian community mirrored in different areas of life, I think there has been a stagnation of their incomes and plantations for instance. If you look at the role of Indians in certain sectors within the urban economy, they perform low'paying jobs even when it comes to mobility for certain levels.

Dr. Mavis Puthucheary, Associate Senior Fellow at University Kebangsaan Malaysia points to the possible challenges the government will face, as a result of dealing with the internal displacement problems of the Indian community.

MP: It is the urban poor we are talking about, not so much the rural poor because many of them have left the rural areas. They do not have jobs in the rural areas, and so they ae coming to the urban areas. So they (the government) will have to address these problems, not in a piece meal fashion as they have been doing in the past but something which will attack the problems from many angles. There is not even one parliamentary constituency where they constitute an electoral majority. That would be a problem because the government normally responds to an electorate during an election. They are so widely spread out in the country that they do not count politically. Our NEP talks about eradicating poverty, irrespective of race. So this is something the government will have to address, judging from the New Straits Times editorial the other day, if we count the New Straits Times as a government paper, that this is a matter of some concern to the government. But how much emphasis will be given and they (the government) are not too happy about addressing concerns of people who go to the streets. So I do not know if the protests will work against the Indian community as a whole, but I feel that they will do something.
Following the recent protest by members of the Indian community, Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi has asked the Malaysian Indian Congress or MIC, which is a component of the ruling Barisan Nasional to set up a special committee that will prepare a complete report on the demands of the Indian community.

This is a follow up to the party's proposals in June, revealed MIC's President, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu after a meeting with Mr Abdullah.

The new proposal will include data on non-bumiputeras in public sectors, in addition to welfare, education and health matters.

Similarly, the public can also channel their concerns via a new telephone hotline.

Mr P Uthaya Kumar, Legal Advisor for HINDRAF, the association which spearheaded the recent protest on November 25 comments on this initiative.

UK: Now, this committee that is being set up, we have seen hundreds of committees. We are now in for a mind set change. We would like to directly deal with UMNO which we have repeatedly said over the last three months. UMNO is the one who calls the shots and has the power to address the Indian issues and not MIC. We would like to deal with UMNO directly since Abdullah Badawi says he is the Prime Minister of all Malaysians. Number two is the hotline, the supposed hotline that is set up to address Indian issues, this hotline must be dealt with by the Prime Minister’s department, and not MIC.

Analysts feel that the recent protest by the Indian community had highlighted the limitations of the Malaysian Indian Congress, says Dr Ooi Kee Beng is a Malaysian political watcher from the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore.

OKB: They will have to respond by taking up matters, sometimes openly and sometimes behind closed doors within BN (Barisan Nasional). That will rock the boat within the BN because this will merely mean that the MIC will be putting demands on the BN. And if BN, namely UMNO does not go along with it, it will cause a breakdown in the close cooperation they now have. And why is the MIC not more conscious about what is happening? We could remind ourselves of the recent tearing down of the temple in Shah Alam where Sami Vellu himself tried to stop it but he couldn't.

President of the MIC, Samy Vellu, however, defends his organization's influence.

SV: The Malaysian Indian Congress has always been working for the benefit and for the progress of the Indian community in Malaysia. We have done that for many years and we have done all that is needed, in the field of education, in the field of social promotion. And everything that is needed for the community is being done. But it is not 100%. No country can provide 100% to any community, we still have to strive to make more to give back to the Indian community. Whatever accusation that has been leveled against the government, I think it is not true.
Separately, the Malaysian police also broke up an earlier protest organized by opposition parties and non-governmental organizations.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons at the demonstrators as they called for electoral reforms.

But what sort of electoral reforms were they demanding? I asked Dr Ooi Kee Beng from the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore.

OKB: I think when they call for electoral reforms; it is not so much electoral reforms as such that they are trying to protest against in that parade, the one in early November. I think why they are using electoral reforms is that it is a very safe issue for all three parties to talk about. For example, if they should call for struggles against corruption. Now that sort of discussion will lead into quicksand, and it might lead into discussions on the NEP (New Economic Policy), that might lead into issues that will separate them, these oppositional groups. Of course, there are many sides to the electoral system where they have been asking for improvements. Some of them have been pushed through like the use of indelible ink. I think the government has said they will use transparent ballot boxes, these are all small things. In the end, I think what the opposition hopes to get at are limits on gerrymandering and a more independent elections committee.

Elaborating on other electoral reform concerns is Dr Mavis Puthucheary. She assesses the current regulations on postal voting and election campaigning.

MP: We do not have a system where anyone can make use of the postal vote. Like if I was overseas, I could not vote from overseas. I would have to be in the country to vote. So postal votes in Malaysia differ perhaps from postal votes in other countries. Postal votes are only for specific categories of people - primarily the army, the police and the diplomatic service, and people who are likely to be on duty during the actual polling day. They are also asking for a longer campaign period. The campaign period, under the regulations, gives a minimum of seven days, it does not have a maximum. But there is some sort of regulation which I think, between the time when parliament is dissolved and the new parliament is created - it is about 60 days or something. So during that period, the campaign, the elections, the polling will have to take place. But the elections commission has tended to use the minimum as the norm, which is seven days. There are claims that it is too short for the opposition because the ruling party already knows when the election date is, so they can go about and they are campaigning throughout the year. Whereas, the rules state the opposition cannot campaign until the nomination day is held, so it means they only have those six or seven days. And this is difficult for them to put forward their views across on such a short period of time.

According to media reports, there are several demonstrations scheduled for December.

However, the Malaysian government will not give in to all the protestors' demands, says Professor Shamshul Baharuddin from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

He argues the government will adopt a cautious approach when dealing with the demands.

SB: So I would like to see this is possible and the government is more serious and focused in its response so that such protests need not happen in the future. suppose what the government can do is to re-examine what they have implemented and whether they are really reaching the people they are meant for. I think this is the general problem of the trickle down method we have effected in our planning. There are so many disturbances and delays in our delivery systems. Many other people are protesting in different ways and if you go through the UMNO General Assembly recently, you will see a host of other protests by the UMNO members about the performance of the government.

The two major protests in November had come at a crucial time for Malaysia as the government prepares for an upcoming general election in the next few months.

Though the government has signaled its willingness to look into some of the protestors' grievances, analysts are doubtful that the recent protests will delay the upcoming important polls.

Neither are they willing to speculate if the anti-government demonstrations will sway the votes against the Barisan Nasional and prevent the ruling party from repeating its stunning 2004 victory.