MALAYSIAN politics is expected to get more volatile with hung parliaments and post-election coalitions after GE15, said academics.

“There may even be different coalitions at the federal and state levels,” said Prof Wong Chin Huat during the IDEAS Malaysia Outlook Conference 2021 webinar today.

Wong also expects the royalty to play a more prominent role by becoming kingmakers.

He said that after the chaos of 2020, four political blocs have emerged.

“With the four – Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional and the East Malaysian parties, whether it’s GPS or Warisan – it is highly unlikely for any party to win by a landslide,” said the political scientist.

“When you have (a) hung parliament, you will see more post-election coalitions. And as what we have seen in Perak last December, you are likely to see different combinations of parties at the federal and state levels.”

Given this, Wong said that parties cannot run down their opponents completely as they may need to work together after the election.

Despite what many are hoping for, Wong said that what will not happen after GE15 is less politics, more unity and more principled politicians.

Moving forward, Wong said Malaysia’s political scene will have to face threats such as voter disillusionment resulting in low voter turnout, the rise of religious demagogues, the suppression of freedom, party hopping and vote buying, and more instability.

“But there are also new opportunities, such as the inclusion of eight million new voters, (the ability to frustrate double-standards), and more realistic manifestos.

“We will also see the end of the Malay Unity myth, as PAS, Umno and Bersatu are like three brothers going after the same love interest.

Policy vs positional competition

“As it is, they are trying to undermine one another now. More interesting is how we are seeing Umno talk about reforms and moderation now. More than when they were the opposition in the first 22 months after 2018.”

Another panellist, Prof Meredith Weiss, said Malaysia needs to shift away from the existing system that is based on patronage and personality towards a policy-based system.

“A Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research poll showed that voters have a low interest in MPs and state assemblymen as policy makers. Policy making in Malaysia is not conducive as MPs do not have sufficient resources to focus on policy making.

“What 2018 has shown is a change of governments alone is not enough without institutional reforms,” said Weiss.

She said NGOs could focus on voter education so that voters can move away from patronage- and personality-driven politics.

Wong said the current Parliament is (prize in) a competition to be the government, where the executive decides everything.

“It decides the Parliament agenda, there are no select committees and no room for Private Members’ bills.

“Key points to more policy-driven politics is to have legislative reform (select committees and opposition time), more public input in legislation, a shadow cabinet and a level playing field in constituency funding.”

Wong also proposed election reforms such as a proportional representation and local government elections.

The IDEAS Malaysia Outlook Conference 2021 webinar session was moderated by Aira Azhari and will end tomorrow. – February 3, 2021.