Partyforumseasia: Efforts of the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat to overcome the racial dividing lines in Malaysia’s party system have met with considerable difficulties. The Malay candidates in the “Chinese” DAP were not successful in the party elections but two were coopted into the CEC. See the Straits Times report of 17 December 2012 here:
Partyforumseasia:The party convention on 15 December has confirmed father and son Lim as well as party veteran Karpal Singh as “top dogs”. According to the following Straits Times report the DAP has grown from 300 to 1100 branches and the membership from 84.000 to 150.000 since 2008.
Link: Straits Times, 16 December 2012
Partyforumseasia: With the parliamentary elections imminent, the stability and unity of the DAP will be one of the crucial elements for a success of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, especially in view of the Barisan’s effort to recapture the DAP stronghold Penang. How much say will the delegates have in the internal party elections? Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief of the Straits Times, predicts in this article that the “top leaders are not likely to be challenged.”
Partyforumseasia: A very innovative idea for the promotion of a political party? Let’s see what the response on 6 January 2013 will be.
Source: Straits Times, 8 December 2012
NewNewStraitsTimes 2 December 2012
Partyforumseasia: Competition for candidacies and influential posts are the normal in all parties. As first chancellor of (West) Germany’s Federal Republic Konrad Adenauer once said, the usual sequence within a party is enemy – mortal enemy – party comrade…
But some leaders are better than others in keeping the party together. And of course: The more you can win or lose, the tougher the infighting.
Partyforumseasia: In the past the PAP has been described as a secretive cadre-style party, keeping its internal developments mostly in the dark. Here is a rather public glimpse into the election of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) by the “close to 2000” party cadres. Straits Times, 3 December 2012
2 December 2012 Straits Times
Partyforumseasia: After the first loss of a group representation constituency to the opposition in the 2011 GE, also called the “new normal” in Singapore after five decades of PAP dominance, the party seems to take this seriously.
Partyforumseasia:It is certainly good practice to exchange views and experiences among political parties, study campaign strategies and know each other personally. This is mostly done between ruling parties and useful for government to government relations. Here are two examples:UMNO – PAP and CCP – PAP
“Party warns of race riots, bankruptcy if BN loses”
(Straits Times, Singapore, 29 November 2012)
Partyforumseasia: Threatening the voters is normally not considered to be the best campaign strategy. It may work, though, but it reveals as well the nervousness among the UMNO leaders in view of the promises the opposition Pakatan Rakyat makes to the Malaysian voters.
The leaders of Umno Youth Khairy Jamaluddin, Women’s Wing Shahrizat Jalil, and Young Women’s Wing Rosnah Rashid Shirlin during the 66th General Assembly on 28 November 2012.
http://epaper.straitstimes.com/fvx/fvxp/fvxpress.php?param=2012-11-29
Partyforumseasia: “What if PAS leader becomes premier?”
asks Dr. Farish M. Noor, the leading expert on the Malaysian Muslim Party PAS, in today’s Straits Times. The discussion is on why PAS as the probably strongest party in the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition should leave the premiership to Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the smaller People’s Justice Party PKR. He was assumed to be the next premier in case the Pakatan manages to replace the UMNO-led ruling coalition in the upcoming elections. Only Anwar, many thought, would balance the Pakatan, which looks united more in its opposition against the Barisan Nasional than in its individual programs and aspirations. The topic is potentially rather hot because an “Islamist” as PM may be difficult to accept for the Chinese dominated DAP.
Political Party Forum Southeast Asia 