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‘Kita Boleh’ has resulted In Malaysians' first victory with more to come
The ruling parties BN, UMNO splitter Bersatu and conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) are all aware that the emotions of the people across the races are running high.
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Let’s vote: The logo of Malaysia's election commission is pictured at its headquarters in Putrajaya on Oct. 20, 2022. Malaysia will hold its 15th general election on Nov. 19. (Reuters/Hasnoor Hussain)
A
s this is being written, the Federation of Malaysia is precisely four days away from holding the 15th General Election, which will take place on Saturday.
The classical definition of a victory in an electoral contest in Malaysia is whichever party can first have 112 votes in the legislative chamber, also known as the Dewan Rakyat, wins. The latter has 222 members of Parliament under various political parties, some of which have formed into various coalitions.
There were more than 1,000 independent candidates, the largest-ever in the electoral history of Malaysia since 1955, when the original Perikatan National (PN) was formed, leading to the first victory that allowed the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun HS Lee and Tun Sambathan to negotiate with London for the independence of Malaya.
This endeavor was successful, as marked by the formal and peaceful transition of power that led to the independence of Malaya on Aug. 31, 1957. In 1962, Lee Kuan Yew urged his colleagues not leave it to the Cobbold Commission alone to canvass for the support of the people in Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia.
In fact, the stalwarts of People's Action Party (PAP), such as Toh Chin Chye, Gong Keng Swee and S. Rajaratnam, all joined Lee to urge the people of Sabah and Sarawak to put Malaysia into full-fledged formation.
However, as fate would have it, Singapore only remained in Malaysia for a mere 22 months, before becoming an Island republic of its own in August 1965.
The literature of democratic studies, be it the form pioneered by the late Prof. Juan Linz or Josh Kurtlanzick, the author of Democracy in Retreat, while tremendously impressive to say the least, has never touched on how a group of energized voters can actually compel the caretaker government to concede to the needs of the poorest of the poor first.
