Current location:	Ipoh, Malaysia
Current mood:	surprised
Entry tags:	elections, malaysia

Surprising results of the Malaysia 2008 elections
I don't usually post anything on politics but the results of the Malaysian elections held yesterday is a massive turnaround.

The ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, last lost it's 2/3 majority in the federal government seats in 1969 but this time, they lost it again. Why is a 2/3 majority important? Because with a 2/3 majority, the constitution can be amended. This is a massive setback for the Barisan Nasional.

To compound the loss, the Barisan Nasional also lost control of 4 states - Penang (the electronics and industrial powerhouse of Malaysia), Selangor (the older industrial powerhouse of Malaysia), Perak (my home state), and Kedah (the "ricebowl" of Malaysia). These were supposed to be strong states for the ruling coalition although Penang was known to be vulnerable. It is usually the norm that citizens voted for the opposition as their members of parliament (i.e. the federal seats) and the ruling coalition as their state assemblymen (i.e. the state seats). This is to get a counterbalancing voice by the opposition in parliament and to secure local/state development with the ruling colaition.

This round, the voters are angry, especially the Chinese and Indian minorities, who feel badly sidelined, and it shows in the voting with the Chinese and Indian minority parties in the ruling coalition feeling the brunt of the discontent as they lost massively. There's also a lot of discontent with other matters, like the case of influencing judiciary appointments and the continuing sidelining of other religions. If the ruling coalition does not heed this loud and clear message sent to them, they are hiding their heads in the sand. The opposition is going to push them hard to ensure that the ruling coalition will not ram legislation through as they pleased as was done previously.

The opposition parties have asked for change and that they represent a better alternative. Now that they have been given mandates to run 4 additional state governments, it's time to walk the talk. Let's see what the opposition can do in these next few years.


p.s. Yes, of course, I did go to vote.