Monthly Archives: April 2013

Malaysia’s GE13: Of Frogs and Princes

Posted on by
Reply

Partyforumseasia: The ugly frog turned out to be a handsome prince, at least in the fairy tale. In a country where party switching has a long tradition (see national cartoonist Lat’s 1992 cartoon), turncoat politicians are not unknown, even welcome by other parties if they seem to be winnable candidates. But this universal feature, often accompanied by cash handouts, seems to be less acceptable with the Malaysian voters this time. The turncoats are now called katak = frog…

Lat 1
Partyforumseasia: One of the frogs has been nominated by PM Najib to the surprise of many. This rather controversial politician was with PAS first, then with PKR, and is now running as religious and Malay supremacy wild card for BN against a moderate from PAS… This pairing could hardly be more ironical.

Zulkifli

Source / Link: Straits Times 24.4.13

Indonesian Parties Struggle for Electability

Posted on by
Reply

Partyforumseasia: Here’s a new contribution to our (young) collection of scholarly contributions to the topic of how political parties in Southeast Asia work. Ulla Fionna is a visiting fellow in Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, which has published this paper in its series ISEAS Perspective available at the homepage http://www.iseas.edu.sg

Link: Read the paper
Ulla Fionna

Malaysia’s GE13: Barisan starts campaign by feeding 60.000 potential voters…

Posted on by
Reply

Partyforumseasia: As Partyforumseasia had already assumed, this campaign will be the most expensive ever, and money does not seem to be a problem. When Jesus fed the 5000 it was considered to be a miracle. BN can easily feed 12 times that many with shark’s fin soup and silver pomfret, payed for by rich supporters, “Chinese tycoons” who might have a stake in BN’s grip on power… Source / Link: Straits Times 21 April 2013

60000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Partyforumsseasia: But BN and PR have a couple of problems with their dropped candidate hopefuls after nomination day. Since a certain amount of self-confidence if not narcissism is involved if people run for public office, disappointment is great for the ones who are being dropped without being tested at least by an election within the party. This is the risky side of appointments by the party leadership, and, no surprise, many of these have registered as independent candidates:
Source / Link The Malaysian Insider 21 April 2013

Independents

 

 

Malaysia’s Election Campaign: Santa BN versus Santa PR…

Posted on by
Reply

SantaPartyforumseasia:Christmas is less about promises than about gifts on Christmas day. GE 13 may be more about promises and less about real gifts after the election. The taxpayers will have to foot the bill anyway. But frankly: Single mothers as a vote bank for the BN? That is rather unusual in the regional and international comparison. At least it reveals a certain nervousness of PM Najib and his campaign strategists…
Promises

Source / Link: The Malaysian Insider, 18 April 2013

Candidate (s)election in Southeast Asia… Today: Thailand

Posted on by
Reply

Partyforumseasia:  Winnability is certainly the most important criterion for the selection of candidates. Whether the candidate elected by his or her branch with participation of the party members has better chances than the one appointed by the party leadership with its higher overview and wisdom is debatable. With all the appointments going on in the overheated campaign preparations in Malaysia (and the “sulking” dropped incumbents…) on both sides, in Thailand there is still the demand from the ground to hold proper elections, this time from the “Red Shirts” in Chiang Mai, obviously unhappy with the way PM Yingluck is promoting her sister…
Yinluck&sister

Chiang Mai

Source / Link: The Nation 16 April 2013

Malaysia GE 13: The Mother of All Campaigns – 66.600 BN Rallies and Lots of Free Dinners

Posted on by
1

Najib campaignPartyforumseasia: If the Election Commission hopes for the best ever election (instead of the dirtiest), it is probably safe to say that it will be the most expensive ever in Malaysia. Everybody who has a vague idea of what is at stake for the incumbent Barisan Nasional (and its cronies) if they should lose it can understand the all out effort in this campaign. French diplomat-politician Talleyrand (1754-1838) once said that the most painful farewell in this world is the farewell from power. But losing power and at the same time being cut off from one’s financial resources must be even worse. Here are some fresh examples of BN’s campaign efforts: 66.600 rallies planned until 5 May and lots of free dinners for potential voters… The opposition is not amused.
Free dinner 2

 Link: The Malaysian Insider, 13 April 2013

Penang Dinners

Link: The Malaysian Insider, 13 April 2013

Malaysia’s GE 13: “Best Election Ever” and Sulking Dropped Candidates

Posted on by
Reply

GE13Partyforumseasia:   Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, chairman of the Election Commission (EC), announced 5 May as polling day and 15 days for the official campaign yesterday. Dismissing claims that it could be one of the dirtiest, he said: “We hope that this would be the best general election.” (Link: New Straits Times) Whether the 15 days are a sign of “healthy democracy”, as PM Najib says, may not be so important after nearly two years of unofficial campaigning. But the procedures organized by the EC have certainly improved, from indelible ink (colour still kept secret…) to more attention to the voter list and the possibility for voters to check it online.

Another feature, obviously less controversial in Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia, but at least questionable for a “healthy democracy” is the selection of candidates. As if elections inside the parties were not an option, party leaders decide among themselves on the most winnable candidates – under the risk of being sabotaged by the dropped hopefuls. For the Barisan Nasional this must be a tricky procedure given their attempt to renew the party with 40% fresh candidates. See also Straits Times, 11 April:
Candidate list

Malaysia’s GE 13: 1.5 million pensioner votes for BN?

Posted on by
Reply

Partyforumseasia: Older voters have been mobilized world wide under the assumption that they are conservative and vote for the ruling party. PM Najib, concerned about retired top civil servants joining the opposition PR, tries to woo the over 700.000 retired civil servants with the promise of increasing their pensions if they support his re-election. The calculation that the oldies can bring in their spouses’ votes as well and yield up to 1.5 million votes for BN may be too optimistic, though. And according to the Election Commission, 2.3 million or 21.69 % of Malaysia’s 13.29 million registered voters are young first timers. Will it be old BN suppporters against young opposition voters?
Retirees 1

Retirees 2

Source/Link: The Malaysian Insider, 8 April 2013

Malaysia GE 13: Less than 1% overseas voters registered

Posted on by
Reply

Partyforumseasia:  The most interesting changes to the organization of the voting process world wide are related to overseas and postal voting. With more citizens living abroad their participation in elections has become more important in several ways. The extremely narrow victory of George W. Bush in 2000 with 537 postal votes in Florida is unforgotten. If Malaysia’s Election Commission is disappointed with the low registration rate of the 700.000 Malaysians overseas, there may be, as in many other countries, the hope that this is a conservative voter group probably supporting the ruling coalition.

The opposition does not exclude fraud and manipulation with the postal voting. See: The Malaysian Bar, 6 April 2013, reprinting an interview in the Sun of 27 March 2009 in which Anwar Ibrahim speaks about fraud with postal votes.

Find some comparative international information at the end of this post:

Overseas voters

See the full article in The Straits Times 6 April 2013
________________________________________________
International comparison:

Italy: Nearly 3 million Italians abroad (.5 m in Germany) vote for 12 MPs in the National Parliament. Right of overseas voting since 2006.
Spain: 1.5 million Spanish citizens abroad, 870.000 in Latin America, 60% of them eligible. In the 2008 election PM Zapatero campaigned there for his Socialist Party.

Turkey: 2.5 million Turkish voters abroad, 1.5 m in Germany alone. Postal voting since 2008.

Germany: Postal voting since 1957, percentage in 2009: 21,4%. Overseas voting since 1985, 55.000 (approx. 10%) registered and voted in 2009.

World wide: E-voting in its infancy and still rather costly. With e-identification on its way for banking and business, e-voting may develop soon and result in tremendous savings for the organization of elections.

 

 

Malaysia: PAS Fields First Christian Candidate

Posted on by
Reply

Partyforumseasia: Since UMNO is competing for the same voter pool among rural and pious Malays, opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) has tried for some time already to open up to non-Muslims, also showing at the same time that nobody should be frightened by its Sharia policies which would apply only to Muslims. Fielding for the first time a Christian candidate in the upcoming election is certainly a significant symbolic step. It is also in line with the Pakatan Rakyat and Parti Keadilan Rakyat line of multi-racial party development in Malaysia.
Link: Straits Times 5.4.2013
PAS 5.4.13

Malaysia: “Anything But UMNO” (ABU) serious about poll watching

Posted on by
1

Partyforumseasia: Election fever is on the rise since Prime Minister Najib Razak was expected to dissolve the Malaysian Parliament nearly two years ago but hesitated to do so. Now that the election date is near, the temperature is rising even higher. For outsiders the wording of ABU leader Haris Ibrahim may sound exaggerated, but knowing how much is at stake for supporters and cronies if UMNO should lose this election, fears of manipulation don’t seem to be baseless. The Malaysian Insider (link) reports:
5 April 2013
ABU 5.4.13

Malaysia: How strong is ABU?

Posted on by
Reply

NajibAnwarPartyforumseasia: In many democracies the ruling parties have to face dropping popularity and voter support. That is quite normal and tends to get worse with the years in power. Malaysia, today, is deeply divided, given the general information available about arrogance of power, money politics, corruption scandals and election manipulation seen as typical for UMNO which is ruling the country since independence. In an article for the Straits Times, Singapore, Wan Saiful Wan Jan, head of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) in Kuala Lumpur, remains cautious about an opposition victory, but points out the average voters’ frustration with UMNO: the “Anything But UMNO” or ABU sentiment. Combined with the opposition strategy of attacking long term strongholds of the ruling coalition like Johor, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak and doubts about the cleanliness of the upcoming election, ABU may tip the scale for the Pakatan Rakyat.

Link: Straits Times, 4 April 2013
Wan 4.4.13

Malaysia: The PM’s decision…at last!

Posted on by
Reply

At last

Partyforumseasia: Just three weeks before the parliament would have been dissolved by law, Prime Minister Najib Razak has at last announced the dissolution – with the (expected) blessings of the King. Political Malaysia feels relieved. The elections will probably be scheduled April 20th or 27th.
Why Najib was hesitating so long will remain speculation according to the observer’s preference. For the BN-camp it will be caution and extended preparation for a victory, for the PR-camp a sign of weakness. In any case it is noteworthy that the BN government has already showered the country with several cash schemes, whereas the opposition PR could only make promises.
See today’s report of The Malaysian Insider