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Malaysian Elections: And So To The Polls

James Bond's mistress, from her home in Los Angeles, votes for the National Front, of course. She has seen the light, we are told in mindless "brand name" advertisements splattered over the media in the past few days, as ungrateful Malaysians do not. The National Front packaged itself as a brand product, while spewing venom on the opposition in the nine-day election campaign which ended at midnight last night (28 Nov). The campaign concentrated on personalities, with the National Front never allowing it to ascend beyond it, every serious opposition proposal knocked out by vicious political and pesonal villification. Perfected for the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, Saatchi & Saatchi brought the art of negative political advertising to Malaysia; then handed it over to an advertising company of the Prime Minister's daughter, then of the Prime Minister's son.

But this time around, the magic failed. The swift riposte from the opposition, Barisan Alternatif or the Alternative Front, turned the heat on the Barisan Nasional that soon became an embarassment. The opposition's previous complaints of unfair attacks were cheerfully ignored. This time around, the Prime Minister felt the heat to complain of opposition skullduggery and made front page news. Towards the end, he was reduced to denying his son controlled nearly a hundred companies, and how selfless he was in working for them for little or no money; he skirted the large blocks of shares he held in public listed and other companies that certainly is worth a few hundred times more than the reputed RM950,000 this fellow took home in a month, and his wife talking of how their sons are being unnecessarily reviled. The Barisan political villification campaign collapsed when he had to defend his son. And two more sons he has not with similar empires. He should have let it be.

What turned the campaign into the mess it became for the National Front is the dominating presence of a man who was not around: the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. When the National Front would not discuss issues, the Alternative Front cleverly brought the man into the mainstream so thoroughly that the National Front had to villify him. But the public saw it as further humiliation of a man already destroyed but who continues to fight, as Nelson Mandela did after his imprisonment in the 1960s. It did not work. Anwar stayed a step ahead, maintaining the moral high ground. The contrast between the Prime Minister's low politics and Anwar's moral high ground strengthened the Alternative Front's credibility, especially in the Malay cultural heartland. The Prime Minister quickly reduced his believe in a two-thirds majority in Parliament to 51 per cent. Towards the end though, he promises to celebrate when the National Front retains its two-thirds majority. The cake is already baked.

This is what happened in May 1969. The victory celebrations the UMNO youth leader and Selangor mentri besar, Dato' Harun Idris, planned for 13 May turned ugly when the Alliance, as the coalition was then known, nearly lost control of two Malay states, Selangor and Perak. Those who came for the celebrations came armed with weapons. In other words, UMNO, who lead that coalition as it does this, is promising violence should it lose control. The opposition used to losing in every elections since the KL municipal elections in 1953, is not likely to run riot because it has lost another one. But the National Front, and UMNO, has much to lose if they lose ground, especially if it is badly tarnished. The Malay cultural and political support the National Front traditionally had is dented, a return to status quo all but impossible so long as the Prime Minister cannot explain away the humiliation of his protege and potential successor. So much, in exasperation, the Prime Minister uncharacteristically accused Anwar's wife, Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, of courting for sympathy votes from her husband's jailing.

The Alternative Front mounted a brilliant campaign of keeping the National Front leaders in their constituencies. The works minister, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, could not move from his Sungei Siput constituency. Every cabinet minister and mentri besar is forced to be more acquainted with their constituencies than they would like to. This could provide individual upsets. The electoral system is so loaded against the opposition that it needs at least 60 per cent of the popular votes to deny the National Front its two-thirds majority. It is an uphill task. Which accounts for the National Front leaders ebbulience in retaining its two-thirds majority. But the Malay ground is scarred and split. What we do not know is how badly it is. That would determine the results of this elections. It is an elections in which the National Front could well be returned with UMNO taking a beating. One thing is certain: no matter who wins, the new government must take into account public sensibilities and views more seriously than the National Front ever has. The choice to the Malaysian voter is clear: he is asked to choose whether he wants the solidity of IBM or the feisty confidence of the startup Microsoft, when they first crossed swords in the mid-1970s. IBM, like the National Front, is solid, confident, computer company with an emphasis on consistent growth. IBM stumbled and lost its way while Microsoft grew to dominate the computer industry. This is the choice Malaysians face today.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my