Opposition Alliance Research Articles

From Voting Bloc to Fragmentation: The Chinese Opposition Votes in the 2021 Sarawak State Election

This study analyses the voting patterns among the Sarawakian Chinese and their pro-opposition inclination in the 2021 Sarawak State Election (SSE21). It begins by recounting how the national opposition alliances, former Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliances—Barisan Alternatif (BA) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR)—gained popularity among the Chinese voters in Sarawak since the 2006 state elections. The voting trends reveal changes in Chinese voting patterns, from a voting bloc to fragmented votes, and their openness to local opposition parties in the recent state elections. In order to examine the plurality voting pattern and the extent of fragmentation, this research studies two Chinese-majority urban constituencies, Batu Lintang and Bukit Assek in Sarawak. It contends that the Chinese political leanings, including their tendency to embrace regionalism, are profoundly shaped by local and national political developments. In the past two decades, ethnopatronage politics and prevalent corruption practices partly explain the Chinese’s quest for regime change. The Sarawak government’s emphasis on regional identity and multiculturalism in its official narrative nurtures a sense of belonging, which also impacts Chinese identity politics. This article argues that the decision to support minor parties advocating for separatism can be read as strategic voting of the regional minority who feel deprived of their equal rights. It also contends that political fragmentation among the Chinese might persist if PH fails to consolidate its previous support. Otherwise, it spells the decline of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK). The sustainability of local opposition parties depends on the internal reform of parties. The parties should reduce the influences of personal politics as it tends to breed party-hopping, which places parties’ future or institutional development at risk of uncertainty.

Securitization, fear politics, and the formation of an opposition alliance in competitive authoritarian regimes

ABSTRACT This article examines how opposition parties with diverse ideologies can form alliances in competitive authoritarian regimes despite the securitization strategy used by authoritarian incumbents. Using Turkey as a case study, the article demonstrates that an authoritarian leader may associate terrorism with opposition parties and may disseminate this fear to manipulate moderate voters and prevent coalition formation between niche parties. By analysing public speeches of political actors in Turkey, the study argues that if opposition parties recognize the vulnerabilities of the regime and believe that forming an alliance would gain support from the masses and encourage cross-party voting, then the securitization strategy would not deter them from forming a pre-electoral alliance. However, the failure of the securitization strategy to prevent opposition parties from forming an alliance does not guarantee opposition victory in elections. The securitization strategy employed by the authoritarian regime can still be utilized to effectively empower the authoritarian leader, enabling them to win elections by capitalizing on fear and depicting the opposition alliance as a security threat and a potential source of instability if they were to come into power.

Socio-Political study on the Causes, Evolution and Subsequent Effects of Manipur’s Communal Clashes

This paper focuses on the Manipur clashes began in Early May, 2023. The following clashes became much more brutal between Meiteis and Kukis. Superficially, these large-scale communal clashes were caused by the tribal status approval of Meiteis from High Court of Manipur. Insightfully, the clashes are rooted in the “Reservation” and Hindu nationalism. Both catalyzed conflicts by the BJP's increasingly populist mobilization. The neglect and omission of BJP-ruled central and state governments in the early stages of clashes are worsening the situation. The opposition alliance recently launched “No-confidence vote” against Modi in Lok Sabha, arguing that his silence on brutal violence reflected BJP-led central and state governments had lost the impartiality. Only by ending riots instantly, restoring social order, creating channels for peace talks and promoting economic development could deputes be resolved, mutual trust rebuilt and peaceful co-habituated be achieved.

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman as An Alliance Maker: A Case Study of Pakistan Democratic Movement

Pakistan has a history of opposition alliances. Purpose of this article is to evaluate the role of Pakistan Democratic Movement in Pakistan. Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehmanis the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. On September 20, 2020, the PDM was established. The coalition was formed from 11 political parties. Slogan of PDM was to respect the sanctity of the vote. In 2022, the PDM formed a government under the leadership of opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif after successfully ousting Khan in a no-confidence resolution on April 10th.Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehmanannounces 12-Point Charter of Pakistan. In addition, Rehman said that Khan was backed by Jewish lobby, agent ofQadianes, Jews, and Americans. Protests against inflation were announced by the PDM.Under the leadership of the PDM, Pakistan was able to successfully remove itself from the FATF grey list. The administration of the PTI did not assume political ownership of the CPEC project in the same way that previous governments led by the PML-N had done so. The government of PDM is the responsible for historic economic woes.

Republic of Congo: Opposition Alliance

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesVolume 60, Issue 4 p. 23984C-23984C Internal Developments Republic of Congo: Opposition Alliance First published: 16 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2023.11028.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume60, Issue4May 2023Pages 23984C-23984C RelatedInformation

The Politics of Alliances During Ayub's Era of Controlled Democracy (1958-1969)

The political system of Pakistan is comprised of a multi-party system; therefore, the formation of alliances and counter alliances by the political parties is a common feature of its political culture. Pakistan's political history reveals that alliances are formed against authoritarian military regimes.The alliances were also formed to cope with the civilian administration of popular leaders, as they are accused of benefiting from rigged elections, and authoritarian policies and being responsible for the economic crisis. During the military regime of Ayub Khan, the opposition alliances succeeded in removing Field Marshal Ayub Khan from the presidency as he failed to cope with its pressure in the late 1960s. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of these political alliances during the martial law regime of Ayub Khan.To what extent are they sincere in their cause of developing a viable political system in the country? What circumstances led to the formation of these alliances? What was the impact of these alliances on the Pakistani political spectrum? The present study has attempted to answer some of these questions.

Do political parties matter in bringing about a democratic transition? An analysis of their role after Bouteflika’s resignation in Algeria

President Bouteflika’s resignation in April 2019, in response to large public demonstrations, opened a democratic window of opportunity for regime change in Algeria. Nevertheless, despite widespread disaffection with the regime, opposition parties have been incapable of triggering a democratic transition in Algeria. The military took control of the situation and imposed its own roadmap to put an end to the political crisis, pushing for presidential elections in December 2019. The elected president, Tebboune, a former prime minister under Bouteflika’s presidency, introduced a constitutional amendment in 2020 and called for parliamentary elections to be held on June 12th, 2021. This article analyzes the political stances and actions by the Algerian political parties regarding these political processes that were intended to be the foundations of the new republic. The case study of the Algerian crisis contributes to the theories on democratization and authoritarian resilience. It does so by showing that, even under favourable conditions of intense social pressure for democratic change and widespread disaffection with the authoritarian regime, political parties cannot be a democratizing agent if: (1) the opposition remains divided; (2) the parties do not build broad opposition alliances, not only between parties but also with civil society; and (3) the political regime retains the support of a number of loyal political parties.

Pakistan in 2021

Pakistan began the year with an energized opposition that directly challenged the military establishment, but as the year progressed, the opposition alliance fell apart under the strain of internal divisions. The military establishment pushed back against the ruling PTI and regained control of the political system. Religious extremists were emboldened and posed a challenge to both civilian and military centers of power. The economy rebounded from the collapse of 2020, but Pakistan continues to face macro- and micro-economic challenges. The Delta variant took its toll on Pakistanis, but the government was able to make significant progress in its vaccination program by the end of 2021. Pakistan gained considerable geostrategic leverage due to the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

BOOK REVIEW: Opposing Power: Building Opposition Alliances in Electoral Autocracies, by Elvin Ong

Contemporary Southeast Asia (CSEA) is one of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute"s flagship publications. Now in its fourth decade of publication, CSEA has succeeded in building up an international reputation as one of Southeast Asia"s premier academic journals. The aim of the peer reviewed journal is to provide subscribers with up to date and in-depth analysis of critical trends and developments in Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. The primary focus of the journal is on issues related to domestic politics in Southeast Asian countries, regional architecture and community building, military, strategic and security affairs, conflict zones and relations among the Great Powers. CSEA publishes authoritative, insightful and original contributions from scholars, think-tank analysts, journalists and policy-makers from across the globe. The Editorial Committee is guided by the advice of the International Advisory Committee which is composed of eminent scholars from Asia, the United States, Australia and Europe.

What are we voting for? Opposition alliance joint campaigns in electoral autocracies

Existing analyses of opposition pre-electoral alliance formation in electoral autocracies neglect their coordinated election campaigns against incumbent autocrats. This paper argues that opposition alliance joint campaigns can increase the salience of the anti-regime cleavage, signal mutual compromise, and highlight the positive material and policy gains voters will reap following regime defeat. Together, they persuade ideologically and ethnically disparate opposition supporters to engage in the cross-party strategic voting necessary to maximize opposition vote share and their chances of winning. Empirical findings from Malaysia’s historic 2018 general elections support the theory’s propositions. A pre-electoral survey experiment estimates that an opposition alliance’s joint campaigns increases cross-party strategic voting by about 10 percentage points among opposition voters. Field interviews and ethnographic observation during the election campaigning revealed the diverse methods and mechanisms of joint campaigns. Malaysia’s Pakatan Harapan opposition alliance eventually prevailed through a combination of joint campaigning against a flailing incumbent.

Beliefs and Attitude towards Political Advertising During Malaysia's GE14 Political Tsunami

The recent General Election in Malaysia has seen the opposition alliance form the government for the first time in its history. The tsunami that changed the country's political landscape has largely been attributed to the participation of young voters and the effect of political advertising transmitted through social media. Drawing upon the theory of reasoned action, the study tests the scale of beliefs about political advertising in relation to attitude towards political advertising among young voters. While the first phase of the study validated the belief components, the second phase tested and confirmed the effect of the belief components on attitude. As a result, three belief components of political advertising were extracted, including core values, actual values,andexternal values. The findings indicated that young Malaysian voters hold unfavourablebeliefs aboutpolitical advertising. Moreover, the beliefs about advertising’s core and external values have a direct effect on attitude towards political advertising. Given young voters use social media for nearly every aspect of their lives, the findings underscore the importance of understanding the potential effect of negative political advertising and its external elements during election campaigns.

Politics of alliances and its effects during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's rule in Pakistan

The paper mainly focuses on political alliances during the rule of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. This study is based on the opposition’s struggle in the form of political alliances to counter Bhutto's absolute power. The period thus saw the emergence of opposition alliances such as the United Democratic Front, the Pakistan National Alliance to organize resistance against Bhutto’s rule. However, this trend has not been limited to opposition’s alliances only. At times, the government joined hands with the opposition and major parties to achieve an agreed objective. In this study, a descriptive analysis is employed to cover the main theoretical and political formations of accords between the opposition and the ruling party. These unnatural alliances between political parties had immense effects on the future political scenario of Pakistan. It has also been observed that the opposition’s alliances, left behind their imprints on the history of Pakistan leading to the imposition of martial law in 1977 and changing the course of political events ever since. The findings will demonstrate that the political parties were engaged in a struggle for the preservation of the personal ambitions of party leaders. If they tackle the situation with harmony, a firm democracy can establish in Pakistan.

Pushback after backsliding? Unconstrained executive aggrandizement in the Philippines versus contested military-monarchical rule in Thailand

ABSTRACT How do different kinds of democratic backsliding affect opposition pushback? To contribute to the answer, this article compares two divergent cases in the Asia-Pacific – “executive aggrandizement” in the Philippines and a “promissory” military coup in Thailand. An institutional explanation focused on remaining electoral, state institutional, and civil societal forms of democratic accountability despite autocratization does not elucidate significant variations in pushback. In the Philippines, elections have been fairer, state institutions less obviously manipulated and restrictions on civil society less overt. But opposition pushback has been significantly weaker than in Thailand despite more generalized repression and institutional manipulation there. An alternative explanation examines how opposition pushback is influenced by regimes’ efforts to legitimize autocratization. Thailand’s military-monarchical rulers had little success in framing recent elections as democratic while legitimacy linked to the monarchy has also eroded. This has catalysed the formation of a broad civilian opposition alliance, with strong parties, regular protests and critical social media. By contrast, while the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte acts illiberally, he claims continued democratic legitimacy based on competitive elections and high opinion ratings while ruling largely constitutionally. This has undermined electoral opposition and weakened civil society, with no sustained protests and activists out-“trolled” on social media.

Oposisi Anwar Ibrahim Dan Politik Malaysia

Anwar Ibrahim's political future to lead Malaysia is more opened. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that he wins the coming election. On behalf of the opposition alliance he leads, Anwar will launch his campaign for the Justice Party, and he would join hands with the pluralists and Chinese race-based parties in Malaysia. In one posting on Twitter on 9/1/2012, Anwar vowed to overthrow the Malaysian government, what the so-called a corrupt regime Under Anwar Ibrahim's opposition movement, there is a strong tendency that the livelihood of Malaysian society, especially in the field of political education, is experiencing a stage of "silent reform" (reform silently) that is structured and led by the educated middle class with the main objective to uphold democracy, clean and good governance.

Managing Democracy in Malaysia (Identity, Minorities, and Representation)

The Malaysian General Election (GE-14) in May 2018 raised an interesting and new phenomenon. For the first time since independence of Malaysia in 1957, the rulling alliance known as the National Front (Barisan Nasional, BN) which led by UMNO failed to secure simple majority in parliament and lost control of seven of Malaysia’s 13 states. This was due to the challenge presented by the new opposition alliance known as Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope, PH) which won 113 of seats in parliament and gain control the central government. It is interesting that this significant increase in support for the opposition is due to their change the way minorities, identity and representation is managed. The Malaysian Supremacy as political manifesto of Pakatan Harapan which involves eradicating affirmative action based on etnicity, basing it instead on need, for instance need due to prosperity through the removal of government service tax (GST), and reformation of law. This would potentially increase the justice and equality for all ethnic or racial groups. This paper links the 2013 and 2018 elections, the more global trend in which minorities and youth representation are standing up to demand their right and to the challenge multiracial presents in Malaysia as a Muslim country. Therefore, the fundamental questions in this paper of how Pakatan Harapan manage minorities, identity and representation within in the process of democracy and to what extent the opportunities and the involvement of youth as voters and parliamentary candidates in order to support a progressive democracy in Malaysia.

Economic Reforms in the Aftermath of Regime Change in Malaysia

AbstractThe 14th general election in May 2018 brought about an unexpected change in political rule in Malaysia for the first time since the country's independence in 1957. In its first year of rule, the new Pakatan Harapan‐led government implemented several populist economic policies that were drawn from its election manifesto. While these policies may have moderated populist politics to some extent, they have also weakened the government's fiscal capacity. Ethnic fragmentation and a strengthened opposition alliance have also made it difficult for the new government to implement its ambitious institutional reform agenda.

Student protests and organised labour: Developing a research agenda for mobilisation in late neoliberalism

Students have a long history of protesting the introduction or rise of tuition fees. However, political parties do not often endorse their demands. Even the centre-left, which is known for its redistributive policies, does not necessarily ally itself with the student opposition to fees. In this article, the author focuses on the impact of social movement–organised labour alliances on the opposition of political parties to government policy. The author argues that such alliances have a unique impact on centre-left parties, especially in relation to non-labour issues. Two examples of this alliance are presented, emerging from the quite different political contexts of Germany and Turkey. In Germany, student movements failed to block the introduction of tuition fees in 2006. However, in 2008–2011, after students established a deeper alliance with organised labour, tuition fees were scrapped. In Turkey, student movements had been protesting tuition fees for a quarter of a century before an alliance with labour gained the support of social democrats in 2011. These case studies suggest that labour–movement alliances are effective in shifting social democratic politics in higher education policy because of labour’s experience and know-how in alliance building with centre-left parties and the student mobilisation’s potential to make tuition fees an electoral issue cross-cutting party allegiances. This finding suggests that scholars need to take the degree of engagement in opposition alliances into account, in addition to union density, in order to more accurately measure the political power of organised labour. This point has implications for analysing a variety of policy outcomes in policy areas exposed to permanent austerity measures.

Managing Democracy in Malaysia (Identity, Minorities, and Representation)

The Malaysian General Election (GE-14) in May 2018 raised an interesting and new phenomenon. For the first time since independence of Malaysia in 1957, the rulling alliance known as the National Front (Barisan Nasional, BN) which led by UMNO failed to secure simple majority in parliament and lost control of seven of Malaysia’s 13 states. This was due to the challenge presented by the new opposition alliance known as Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope, PH) which won 113 of seats in parliament and gain control the central government. It is interesting that this significant increase in support for the opposition is due to their change the way minorities, identity and representation is managed. The Malaysian Supremacy as political manifesto of Pakatan Harapan which involves eradicating affirmative action based on etnicity, basing it instead on need, for instance need due to prosperity through the removal of government service tax (GST), and reformation of law. This would potentially increase the justice and equality for all ethnic or racial groups. This paper links the 2013 and 2018 elections, the more global trend in which minorities and youth representation are standing up to demand their right and to the challenge multiracial presents in Malaysia as a Muslim country. Therefore, the fundamental questions in this paper of how Pakatan Harapan manage minorities, identity and representation within in the process of democracy and to what extent the opportunities and the involvement of youth as voters and parliamentary candidates in order to support a progressive democracy in Malaysia.

Politics Going Civil. Contentious (Party) Politics in Montenegro

Abstract In 2015, Montenegro’s oppositional alliance Democratic Front (DF) launched ‘Freedom Calling’, a contentious campaign demanding regime change. Although presented as non-partisan, it did feature a party-stemming background. Thus, politics turned civil—meaning that the civil character was a disguise for a planned, creative party endeavour. Methodologically, the authors interpret the DF’s campaign, elaborating on process tracing and applying Tilly and Tarrow’s ‘contentious politics’ approach. They enquire into how the political-party background of the organizers influenced the unfolding of the contentious campaign, thereby addressing the role of parties as initiators of movements. This is especially pertinent in hybrid regimes with formally democratic institutions and persisting authoritarian practices. The Montenegrin case study of contentious (party) politics reveals that, while resources are available, the strong (ethno)political identity label of the party imposes constraints on the construction of a programmatic campaign.

NIGERIA: Opposition Alliance?

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesVolume 55, Issue 5 p. 21862B-21863A Internal Developments NIGERIA: Opposition Alliance? First published: 13 June 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2018.08268.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume55, Issue5June 2018Pages 21862B-21863A RelatedInformation