New Directions in Malaysia

Abstract

The Barisan Nasional (National Front) The Malaysian political scene, which had been undergoing changes since May 1969, took firm shape in 1974. The successful completion of forming coalition governments with former opposition parties led eventually to the formation of the Barisan Nasional (Barnas). With its formation, the Alliance lapsed. The Barn?s is an extension of the Alliance concept of inter-ethnic co-operation of communal based political parties at the ?lite level. Instead of the three-party (UMNO-MCA MIC) coalition, it encompasses a broader spectrum of political parties ? a total of nine from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak. Only two opposition parties of some significance have not joined Barnas ? the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Peninsular Malaysia and the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) in Sarawak. The dominance of the Barnas coalition is reflected in the result of the 1974 General Elections. It captured 135 of the 154 parliamentary seats, leaving DAP and SNAP with 9 each; the last seat was won by Pekemas. It is in control of every state govern ment, winning a total of 345 state seats (out of 392) as compared to 23 and 18 for DAP and SNAP respectively, and the remaining won largely by independent candidates. What is the significance of the trend towards coalition state governments that led to the formation of the Barisan Nasional? WTiat is the National Front all about? And why is this trend possible? To understand the development towards coalition government in Malaysia, we have to be aware of two things: firstly, the political uncertainty facing the country in general, and the Alliance in particular, after 13 May 1969 ; and secondly, and more importantly, Tun Razak's reading of the Malaysian political scene and his conception of what politics should be. Since the formation of the Alliance in 1952 until 1964, UMNO (United Malay National Organization) was the most effective representative of the Malay commu nity, with the PMIP (Pan-Malayan Islamic Party, renamed Partai Islam, or PAS, after 1971) dominant only in Kelantan; the MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) was the most coherent political organization of the Chinese community; and the MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress) represented the Indian community. There was no significant opposition to the community leadership of these three component parties in their respective communities. The Alliance coalition then was all embracive and dominant. Political stability of the then Malaya, especially after independence, rested on the ovemhelming dominance of the Alliance. The coherence and dom inance of the Alliance in turn rested on the capacity of its component parties to rep resent their respective communities. In 1948 UMNO found its own effectiveness circumscribed by the absence of a Chinese leadership representing the Chinese community ; on matters of national interests it could not mobilize the Chinese commu