The coffee shop opposite the new Stutong Market is a sight of a truly Bangsa Malaysia where customers from all races and origins- the Malays, Chinese, Indians and Dayaks could sit down together in a multi racial harmonious way.
If one were to patronize the coffee shop any time of the day, one could overhear just all sorts of conversations among the customers, from oil price hike to inflation to perhaps worldly issues except that of racial slur and religion matters.
It is four months now since the 12th general election, held on March 8 which saw a paradigm shift in Malaysian political landscape.
Many political observers were caught by surprise when the election results were announced on the night of the polling day which saw the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN) basically jolted in the election.
Having lost its two third majorities for the first time since 1969, it did not come across anyone’s mind that the BN could be dealt with such a disastrous blow when it could only secure 140 seats out of the 222 seats contested for Parliament.
Not only had BN failed to capture Kelantan, but also lost additional four states namely Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor to Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the Opposition coalition led by its de facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was once Malaysia’s deputy premier.
In 2004, BN under the leadership of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who took over from Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003 won an ever impressive 199 seats out of the 219 seats contested. It only failed to capture Kelantan which is a stronghold of PAS until today.
Datuk Seri Abdullah had promised various changes to the people back then from curbing corruption to improving the government machineries which won accolades from all Malaysians.
But failure to launch those changes he promised had cost the BN dearly on March 8 when the PR promised changes from making the judiciary independent, improving the police force, a fair and equitable opportunities for all Malaysians, among others which gave a renewed hope to the people who voted overwhelmingly for the Opposition.
Could the March 8 general election be the first step in the creation of a viable two-party system in the country?
Malaysian politics is very much dominated by monolithic BN which consists of basically race-based political parties, with Umno being the voice and champion of the Malays.
This race-based politics has been in existence for decades since independence due to the background of this country which makes up of three major races namely, the Malays, Chinese and Indians.
In fact, the founder of United Malays National Organisation (Umno), Onn Jaafar had in August 1949 urged the Malays to be broad-minded and to accept the Chinese, Indians and other races who were prepared to be loyal to this country.
He therefore advocated that the Umno be transformed into the United Malayan National Organisation. Non-Malays, who were federal citizens, would be allowed admission to the party to fight for an independent State of Malaya, inclusive of Singapore, arriving at the well being and advancement of the people based on equality of opportunities and of political, social and economic rights.
Onn Jaafar’s idea was nevertheless not well received by the Malays and as a result, he resigned from Umno and formed Independence of Malaya Party (IMP).
With the world becoming more sophisticated and the effect of globalization sets in with Malaysians nowadays more well travelled and well read, racial based politics could perhaps gradually disappear from the scene in the new Malaysia.
Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) President and Deputy Chief Minister I, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam was quoted as saying when he was interviewed by the press that he could not agree more with the new trend when he said, “I think racial politics are less important today. People do not really make racial issue a critical issue (any longer) and they are being more and more open and do not feel racial politics are that important in Malaysia today.”
The new century Malaysians to a certain extend do no longer appreciate race or religion as the key issues in politics as they are more concerned with a common agenda based on human rights, justice and corruption free government.
The PR had pledged during the general election that it would uphold rights and interests of all Malaysians regardless of race or religion as enshrined in the Constitution.
Thus, the people are presented with a credible alternative to the ruling BN.
DAP leader, Lim Kit Siang said after the March 8 general election that “it’s the logical next step after the March 8 political tsunami to bring about changes that the people want. PR is a response to the clear and unmistakable message from people that they want change, justice, freedom and fairness.”
The PR has also pledged to abolish all the unjust and discriminatory laws, especially the Internal Security Act (ISA) which allows detention without trial and the Official Secrets Act and Universities and University Colleges Act.
The overhauling of the Election Commission (EC), making the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) a truly independent corruption buster and the judiciary revamp to make it independent are among the changes promised by the PR.
The people’s reaction to all these changes has been euphoric and tremendous.
The question is can racial and religious challenges that lie ahead be overcome to ensure all these changes take place and thus create a two-party system?
Dr Rainer Adam of Friedrich Naumann Foundation said race and religion issues, being its major fault lines have been obstacle to the emergence of two-party system.
A project director with the foundation, Dr Rainer further said the number of political parties that emerged depend on the type of conflicts that exist in a particular country.
The question is could BN re-constitute itself into one united party? What would BN as a unitary party stand for? Could BN accept equality of all Malaysians?
On the other hand, there is also a clash of ideology between PKR and DAP which support secular state and their partner, PAS which supports the formation of an Islamist state.
As some political analysts see it, what Malaysians could expect to see is not a two party system but a two-coalition system.
Coalition system is less cohesive as component parties could switch camps and enemies become friends and vice versa.
A study conducted by a prominent political scientist, Arend Lijphart shows that the two-party system is in fact “very rare” in this world with only the United States, Jamaica, Botswana and few smaller countries having such a system.
The United Kingdom and Australia have two to three effective parties, although they practice the “first past the post” electoral system which generally favoured the emergence of a two-party system.
Malaysians generally have been washed in their mindset that inter ethnic relations are permanently viewed in regard to the racial riots on May 13 1969 which has deeply sunk into the shared memory of the Malaysians and become a national trauma for the country.
If the two-party system emerges, it will spell the end of racial politics once and for all where political issues in the country are no longer along the racial or religious line. Issues like transparency, accountability, good governance and corruption free will then take the centre stage.
With racism in check, Malaysians can proudly claim a truly Bangsa Malaysia which has yet to see fruition.
But will the racial and religious issues make the two-party system remain a chimera as ever?
Perhaps Malaysians have to wait until the next general election due in 2013 to confirm what they had voted on March 8 is the way forward for the nation.
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