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Does Malaysia's unity government really lack Malay support?
Regardless of the skewed figures that seem to indicate that Anwar's new government is hobbled before it even starts forming a Cabinet, it was clearly stated that Malaysian voters across all races and creeds want the incoming government to tackle the rising cost of living and corruption.
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Newly appointed Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim takes the oath of office on Nov. 24, 2022 during his swearing-in ceremony at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur.
(AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
R
eports that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition only received 11 percent of the Malay popular vote seems depressing. It portends the beginning of another round of debates that the unity government of Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim is already hobbled even before it can begin to form a fully functional Cabinet.
Further suggestions that 94 percent of ethnic Chinese in Malaysia, coupled with another 83 percent of ethnic Indians, had voted for PH seems to point to a people that wants the country to reform with systemic vigor and resilience, yet lacks Malay support.
The latter is a premise that is deeply flawed, though, especially when foreign academic reports affirmed that any Malay support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) cannot be assumed to mean they can be considered part of PH’s votes.
With or without any intended mischief, the reports appear to want to warn Pakatan Harapan that it is not as strong as it seems, even though the unity government has amassed the support of 148 members of parliament (MPs) as of Nov. 26, giving Prime Minister Anwar a two-thirds majority that can deliver on all kinds of reforms, including constitutional reform, which requires the support of 144 MPs from a total 222 members in the legislature.
Such academic assessment overstates the risks and dangers of racial polarization for now, though. The reasons are simple. Prior to the Nov. 19 general election, it has been stated without any ambiguity – that is, based on poll after poll – that voters across all races, creeds and colors want the incoming government to tackle the rising cost of living and corruption.
Popular support for these two measures often reached 84 percent and 82 percent, respectively. In other words, voters were undoubtedly concerned with the state of the Malaysian economy, invariably as a runaway double whammy.
When things were not gaining the right trajectory and ballast, it is predictable that they would want change. Granted, Pakatan Harapan, or the Alliance of Hope, does want change and has been echoing this since 1998 if not earlier through the long struggle of Anwar and other colleagues who are now in PH with him.
