Malaysia – another upheaval in the Muslim world

PAWEŁ BIEŃKOWSKI, Asian Programme

Last weekend’s violent opposition protests in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are the latest sign of popular discontent in the Muslim world and said to resemble those staged throughout the Middle East. However, the “Muslim” factor might be the only one really linking the so called “hibiscus revolution” with the events of the Arab Spring.

During an opposition rally on 9 July, organised by Bersih – a group of 62 nongovernmental organisations and opposition parties, the police forces went in with tear gas in order to disperse the crowds. Almost 1700 people have been detained.

Bersih (meaning “clean” in Malayan) is a widespread popular movement calling for the change in electoral system in Malaysia, the system which now guarantees the ruling Malay majority to stay in power indefinitely. Last weekend’s protests, the second of this kind since 2007, are directed against the ruling prime minister Najib Razak, a prominent figure within the powerful United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

In contrast to the Arab states, Malaysian political scene is far more complicated. It can by no means be described in terms of basic division on minority dictatorship and vast unrepresented masses. Political scene in Malaysia, formed at a time of gaining independence from the British Empire, features several axis of division, most importantly ethnic and religious ones. The country comprises of ethnic Malayan majority which forms 60% of the population and thanks to existing electoral system maintains full control of the administration and civil service. Second biggest group are the Chinese (around a quarter of the population), who hold a grip over country’s economy and majority of private business. The rest is formed by the indigenous and partly tribal communities lacking economic resources and deprived of any political influence. The country is also divided into Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and followers of other religions. Islam, however, seems to exercise the strongest influence on the population and contribute to the tightening of the law in Malaysia. The regime has adopted one of the toughest information laws among the developing nations which provides for comprehensive censorship related both to the politics as well as moral code.

Interestingly, ethnic and religious communities in Malaysia used to live in harmony since the establishment of the state and are effectively spread across the country’s 13 states and 3 federal territories. Racial interaction, however, is constrained and the Malay majority tries to maintain its control over the state structure. Western agencies point at Malaysia’s poor record in human rights protection and especially at the internal security law which allows for detention without charge or trial. At the same time, Malaysia is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, one of the locomotives of ASEAN, willing to join the club of developed economies by 2020. Its export, though, was badly hit by the latest economic crisis, responded to by the government with the partial closure of its financial market and provision of $16bn-worth stimulus package.

The Bersih movement (characterised by yellow shirts worn by some of its followers) led by Anwar Ibrahim, calls for free and fair elections which would bring potential end to the 54-year long UMNO rule. One of the incentives for the latest rally was a success of the previous one, resulting in the loss of the UMNO’s two-thirds majority in the parliament during recent elections. Movement’s supporters want to highlight electoral fraud as well as illegal constraints to their right to freedom of assembly. In contrast the ruling party claims the system is fully competitive and the means used in order to disperse the crowds were applied in order to avoid the turmoil similar to the one of the Arab Spring. Many protesters are young people, whose aim is to contest the stiff political system of the country.

As Simon Tisdall from The Guardian speculates, Malaysia is very much different from resurgent Arab nations because paradoxically it remains much more stable and homogenous. Obviously, an example of the power of popular discontent against the tough rule of the government in the Arab world, Thailand or even Myanmar exerts a notable influence on Malaysia. However, the latter is tremendously more prosperous than its Arab counterparts. Therefore, the roots of current discontent are more linked to the growing perception of political inequality among the country’s communities rather than economic grievance. In a word, basic motivation is different, and so are the prospects. In contrats to the Arab world, Malaysian protests – though a mass scale and significant level of regime counter-force – are still falling within the framework of internal show of discontent and influence. The ruling UMNO claims over 3 million members and thus differs profoundly from the closed inner-cycle dictatorships of the Middle East. On the other hand, the protests indicate that a system designed to form a young post-colonial state does no longer fit into the picture of the 21st century growing Asia.