
Malaysia

Malaysia, a constitutional monarchy, has been a weak democracy since 2018, when it transitioned from being a hybrid regime. The country is home to a very dynamic market economy and boasts the highest GDP per capita in Southeast Asia, after Singapore and Brunei. Malaysia has experienced significant democratic improvement in the last five years, especially in Clean Elections, Media Integrity, Judicial Independence, Access to Justice, Absence of Corruption and Freedom of Association and Assembly and boast vibrant Civil society Participation. A key milestone for the country´s democracy occurred in 2018, when the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party and the coalition it led, the Barisan Nasional (BN), was ousted from power, after having ruled uninterruptedly since independence in 1957. In 2020, however, the government collapsed because of the defection of some members of the coalition sustaining it. The collapse has ushered in a period of fragmentation and instability that threatens to reverse all the advances of the last years.
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.
Monthly Updates
November 2022
Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as Malaysia’s Prime Minister on 24 November, five days after the nation’s general election returned the first hung parliament in its history. Despite the hung parliament, the election was widely interpreted as an historic defeat for the UNMO party, which dominated politics from independence in 1957 until 2018, and had staged a partial comeback during the last two years of political instability in the country. Anwar, a former UNMO member with a long and tumultuous career in politics, has been the main opposition leader for nearly twenty years. He will be the fifth prime minister in as many years and will need to manage a broad coalition of political parties to maintain power. This was the first Malaysian election held since the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. Voter turnout declined from previous elections to 73.9 per cent, and despite an increase in the number of women candidates, the number of women in parliament declined from 33 to 30.
October 2022
Following months of disarray in the ruling coalition, on 10 October Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament and called for early elections. The central election commission set the election for 19 November. The election will be the first since Malaysia lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, enfranchising 5.8 million new voters, and the government has already come under significant criticism for the decision to hold elections during monsoon season.
August 2022
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has exhausted all appeals and will begin serving his 12-year sentence for corruption stemming from the money laundering and embezzlement case, popularly known as the 1MDB scandal. The sentence is considered the biggest step in Malaysia’s fight against corruption in recent years, as well as a reaffirmation of the independence of the judiciary.