{"id":39252,"date":"2018-05-11T13:30:44","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T03:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=39252"},"modified":"2018-05-11T13:27:18","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T03:27:18","slug":"political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Political tsunami or musical chairs?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The world woke up on 10\u00a0May to a \u2018Malaysian tsunami<\/a>\u2019, \u2018new dawn<\/a>\u2019 or \u2018surreal shock<\/a>\u2019\u2014the almost completely unexpected outcome of Malaysia\u2019s 14th general elections (GE14). The opposition\u2014led by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Dr\u00a0M), who returned to the political stage after 15\u00a0years in retirement\u2014won a simple majority of 122\u00a0seats out of 222 according to the Electoral Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The astonishing GE14 will go down in history as the election that ended the rule of the United Malay National Organization (UMNO)\u2014now in the Barisan National (BN) coalition\u2014which has run Malaysia since independence. Until now, no Malaysian prime minister has come from outside the UMNO, which celebrates its 72th anniversary on 11\u00a0May.<\/p>\n

Dr M led UMNO for many years and was, from retirement, outgoing Prime Minister Najib Razak\u2019s mentor before his recent turn to the opposition which was driven by his concern about the ruling elite\u2019s poor management of the country. Specifically, the 1MDB scandal<\/a> prompted Dr\u00a0M to turn against his former party and to call his role in the rise of Najib\u2014whom he called \u2018a monster\u2019\u2014as \u2018the mistake of his life\u2019.<\/p>\n

The veteran politician called his campaign a \u2018personal\u2019 matter when he announced his surprising decision to return to politics to revive the ideals of the nation. Minutes after the announcement of the election results yesterday, he reassured the nation: \u2018We are not seeking revenge<\/a>. What we want to do is to restore the rule of law.\u2019<\/p>\n

As I explained in my earlier analysis<\/a>, the campaign had already featured many unexpected turns. But no one, not even long-time observers of Malaysian politics, would have predicted the result. Dr\u00a0M, the nation\u2019s patriarch, toppled the seemingly invincible Najib. The BN\u00a0coalition, despite its troubled reputation, had looked rock-steady in the opinion polls ahead of the elections. Political commentators predicted that the opposition had, at best, a 15%\u00a0chance<\/a> of winning. In-depth analyses indicated deep ethnic, economic and rural\u2013urban divides in voting behaviours across the nation. Worries about \u2018cash-for-vote<\/a>\u2019 practices added more confusion and scepticism about the opposition\u2019s prospects for success.<\/p>\n

Some analyses have indicated that the country\u2019s economic performance is more valued among voters than issues of political transparency. In fact, the cost of living, wages and taxes became some of the main focuses in the campaign. And for many, Mahathir\u2019s promise to tackle those issues was the tilting factor.<\/p>\n

The GE14 results have prompted many to cherish this victory of \u2018multi-party\u2019 and \u2018multiethnic\u2019 democracy. While it\u2019s a positive development, it\u2019s worth remembering that the Malaysian political scene is far from open and inclusive. There was no \u2018new blood\u2019 among the main contenders.<\/p>\n

Instead, the political scene looks more like a game of musical chairs among the primary political players. Just consider that the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH, Alliance for Hope) is led by Anwar Ibrahim, former aide-turned-enemy-turned-ally of Dr\u00a0M. Currently under arrest, Anwar was also with the\u00a0UMNO, and served as Deputy Prime Minister under Mahathir, who jailed him first in 1999 on sodomy charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Victories are intoxicating. But there will be little time for Malaysia to cheer because questions\u2014are already mounting. Since this is the first power transition in the country\u2019s history, there\u2019s no precedent for most of the contested issues that will need to be resolved. This includes the most immediate one: whether the PH alliance can be considered as a single organisation for the purpose of entering the parliament and forming government, or if each party in the coalition will enter parliament individually.. At the post-election press conference, Najib tried this line: \u2018No single party holds a simple majority of seats\u2019, although he also conceded, \u2018I accept the verdict of the people<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

Nervousness abounds. The Istana Negara (the palace) twice postponed the swearing in of a new prime minister. And speculation of vote buying grew. Mahathir had demanded his immediate swearing-in, which finally happened last night. He is now the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, and the world\u2019s oldest prime minister.<\/p>\n

Mahathir promised to be an interim prime minister. Dr Wan Aziza Wan Ismail\u2014the wife of Anwar Ibrahim\u2014is to become the Deputy Prime Minister. Mahathir promised to secure a royal pardon<\/a> for Anwar, and for Anwar to be released from prison in a couple of months, so that he can take over the leadership. How will a family-run government\u2014a husband-wife PM and Deputy PM team, presumably with their daughter Nururl Izzah Anwar, who was also elected in her seat in Penang\u2014work exactly?<\/p>\n

And what will happen to Najib? He retained his seat. Will he be held accountable in the corruption cases he\u2019s been linked to?<\/p>\n

The spectacular comeback of Mahathir, and the likely return of Anwar, defied the odds. The GE14 proved that a change doesn\u2019t need to be for something or someone new, but can embrace second chances. More than that, the remarkable election\u2014some are calling it \u2018the most important day in Malaysian history since its independence<\/a>\u2019\u2014is a victory for the Malaysian people, rather than the candidates per se.<\/p>\n

Malaysia boleh!\u00a0<\/em>Well done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world woke up on 10\u00a0May to a \u2018Malaysian tsunami\u2019, \u2018new dawn\u2019 or \u2018surreal shock\u2019\u2014the almost completely unexpected outcome of Malaysia\u2019s 14th general elections (GE14). The opposition\u2014led by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Dr\u00a0M), …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":755,"featured_media":39254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-39252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-malaysia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPolitical tsunami or musical chairs? | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political tsunami or musical chairs? | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The world woke up on 10\u00a0May to a \u2018Malaysian tsunami\u2019, \u2018new dawn\u2019 or \u2018surreal shock\u2019\u2014the almost completely unexpected outcome of Malaysia\u2019s 14th general elections (GE14). The opposition\u2014led by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Dr\u00a0M), ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-11T03:30:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-11T03:27:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mahatir-Jpeg-e1526006406289.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Huong Le Thu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Huong Le Thu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mahatir-Jpeg-e1526006406289.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mahatir-Jpeg-e1526006406289.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":426},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/\",\"name\":\"Political tsunami or musical chairs? | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-11T03:30:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-11T03:27:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9017e2ecb7fce5f860f333af39a2885a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Political tsunami or musical chairs?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9017e2ecb7fce5f860f333af39a2885a\",\"name\":\"Huong Le Thu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bc4b907dcb655029eb591425eba2061?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bc4b907dcb655029eb591425eba2061?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Huong Le Thu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/huong-le-thu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Political tsunami or musical chairs? | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Political tsunami or musical chairs? | The Strategist","og_description":"The world woke up on 10\u00a0May to a \u2018Malaysian tsunami\u2019, \u2018new dawn\u2019 or \u2018surreal shock\u2019\u2014the almost completely unexpected outcome of Malaysia\u2019s 14th general elections (GE14). The opposition\u2014led by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Dr\u00a0M), ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2018-05-11T03:30:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-11T03:27:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mahatir-Jpeg-e1526006406289.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Huong Le Thu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Huong Le Thu","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mahatir-Jpeg-e1526006406289.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mahatir-Jpeg-e1526006406289.jpg","width":640,"height":426},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/","name":"Political tsunami or musical chairs? | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-05-11T03:30:44+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-11T03:27:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9017e2ecb7fce5f860f333af39a2885a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/political-tsunami-or-musical-chairs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Political tsunami or musical chairs?"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9017e2ecb7fce5f860f333af39a2885a","name":"Huong Le Thu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bc4b907dcb655029eb591425eba2061?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bc4b907dcb655029eb591425eba2061?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Huong Le Thu"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/huong-le-thu\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/755"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39252"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39258,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39252\/revisions\/39258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}