HOBART, Australia: The Federation of Malaysia, a nation renowned for its success in Southeast Asia, did commemorate its 60th anniversary on September 16.
While neighbors like Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines have suffered military overthrows and significant casualties as a result of civil unrest, Malaysia has only ever seen one event: the cultural riots on May 13, 1969.
The democratic system was then overhauled into a Ketuanan Melayu( Malay Supremacy ) structure after order had been restored. This resulted in a protracted period of stability under the Barisan Nasional ( BN ) coalition, particularly during Mahathir Mohamad’s rule from 1981 to 2003.
When Mahathir, who had just returned from retreat, led the opposition to reverse the BN in 2018, the system collapsed. Surprisingly, he served as prime minister again from 2018 to 2020 at the age of 93.
Anwar Ibrahim, a long-regarded” Muslim democrat” in the West, was asked by the Prince to shape the coalition government in November of last year following an ineffective election. The current two-coalition arrangements in Malaysia are made up of the opposition Perikatan Nasional ( Bersatu, Parti Islam Se – Malaysia and Gerakan) and Anwar’s unity government( Pakatan Harapan, BN, and Borneo parties ).
THE Flood OF GREEN
The rise of political Islam and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia( PAS) was the election’s biggest lesson from November 2022. With 49 chairs, PAS is currently the largest group in the Indonesian congress. The Democratic Action Party ( DAP ), a Chinese-based organization that represents non-Malays and has 40 seats, is the second-largest party in parliament.
While some politicians claimed that the” natural wave” was either unreal or a one-off occurrence, it may in fact be reflected in Malay politics. More and more Malays, particularly among the younger age group, are supporting claims that PAS’s perspective for the creation of a Malay-Islamic position is what will shape Malaysia in the future.
This was supported by the current state elections on August 12 that were held in six says on the Malay Peninsula. According to the findings, PAS not only kept the Malay seats that were won in November 2022, but also gained an additional 5 to 7 percent of the vote.