Malaysia

Modern-day Malaysia is built upon a delicate ethnic and religious balance of the three main groups of the country. The biggest group, representing nearly 70% of the population, are the Bumiputera or sons of the land. The Bumiputera are dominated by the Malays, but also other ethnic groups belong to this category. The other two groups are the Chinese and the Indians plus multiple small indigenous groups. The multi-ethnic composition of Malaysia is a product of the diverse colonial powers and pre-independence migration waves. The UMNO was born as a party advocating for special privileges for the Bumiputera population and its central role in the creation of Malaysia. With independence, UMNO formed a multi-ethnic coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN) or National Front, with Chinese and Indian parties, which ruled the country uninterruptedly from 1957 to 2018 under a type of consociationalism. The predominance of the UMNO in the coalition, however, guaranteed special, constitutionally protected privileges for the Bumiputera population. This approach partially eliminated the Bumiputera´s relative economic disadvantage vis-à-vis the other main communities at the time of independence through preferential access to governmental and state-own companies’ positions. This governance system spawned a stable hybrid regime based on the bumiputera-dominated, multi-ethnic governance system, anchored in an entrenched system of patronage and corruption among economic and political elites in the country, with significant deficits in Checks on Government and Participatory Engagement.

The 1997 economic crisis and the internal fights at the UMNO kickstarted a timid process of reform, known as reformasi. While a viable opposition raised, UMNO transformed from a mass party capable of leading a multi-ethnic government to a vehicle serving its elites and sparking racial and religious tensions. The multi-ethnic consociationalism that had dominated Malaysian politics since independence broke down as the BN coalition lost both Malay and non-Malay popular support. The collapse of consociationalism has ushered in a governance system marred by complex extra parliamentarian agreements and horse-trading among political elites without significant democratic expansion. This scenario is compounded by increasing polarization around ethnic and religious lines.  

In the coming years, Malaysia risks falling back into hybridity while tension along ethnic and religious lines continues to increase as they are sparked by political actors. In addition, and increasingly, especially after the 1MDB scandal, political elites are perceived as self-serving. Lack of sufficient judicial independence and possible erosion of media integrity due to recent restrictions imposed by the government will further weaken the reduced Checks on Government that allowed the 1MDB scandal to take place. Political fragmentation, raising racial and religious tension and instability are also affecting fundamental rights, with an increase of racial discrimination, restrictions on Freedom of Expression and LGTB rights.