[ad_1]
Malaysia’s main political coalitions have spent the past two days in talks to secure enough support from lawmakers to form a new government after the weekend’s inconclusive election.
King Al-Sultan Abdullah gave them a deadline of 14 hours (06:00 GMT) on Tuesday to submit sworn affidavits of support. State news agency Bernama said he would make a decision soon.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob called the election early amid pressure from his own party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), saying it would help restore stability after three prime ministers in almost as many years
Here’s what you need to know about the efforts to form a new government alliance:
A suspended parliament
For the first time in Malaysia’s history, the election produced a hung parliament with no single party or coalition winning the parliamentary majority needed to form a government.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim won 82 seats, meaning it needed to get the support of at least 30 MPs to secure a majority of 112 seats in parliament.
The rival Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition led by former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin won 73 seats, with the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which is dominated by UMNO, in third with 30 seats.
The other key parties in the negotiations are from the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has 23 representatives in the new parliament, while Gabungan Parti Rakyat (GPR), which is based in Sabah, has six. Warisan, another party based in Sabah has three.
How did the negotiations go?
Anwar announced in the early hours of Sunday morning after the official poll results were announced that PH had enough support to form a government, but did not provide further details.
The PH camp remained mostly silent on Sunday as Muhyiddin and PN dominated the headlines, sharing a photo of the coalition in talks with Sarawakian leader Abang Johari Openg.
Abang Johari later issued a statement saying that the Borneo and BN parties had agreed to support Muhyiddin.
But BN denied any decision had been made, amid rumors it would join PH.
On Monday morning, party leaders from PH and BN were shown shaking hands and holding talks at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
After the meeting, Anwar said he was “extremely happy” with how the talks went and optimistic they could form a government.
BN said any decision comes from its top decision-making body, but even as talks appeared to be in flux, PN released a statement saying it had submitted a list of MPs to the king. He said he supports his bid to form the government, but the statement did not name him.
GPS’s Abang Johari, meanwhile, said the situation was “chaotic” and that his group was actually debating which coalition to join. Warisan has said it will support a PH-BN combo.
At the eleventh hour on Tuesday, Ismail Sabri announced on Twitter that BN will not join any coalition and will remain in opposition. There was no comment from UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Ismail Sabri is one of the three vice presidents of the party.
Without the support of the BN, the leading coalition could end up ruling as a minority government.
Alhamdulillah, Dewan Tertinggi Barisan Nasional (BN) has made a decision to support the government.
BN does not support Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Setakat ini BN agreed to remain sebagai pembangkang.
— Ismail Sabri (@IsmailSabri60) November 22, 2022
Why are speeches so difficult?
The politicians involved in the talks have alliances and rivalries that date back years, complicated by Malaysia’s multicultural society – the majority of people are ethnic Malay Muslims, but with substantial minorities of Chinese, Indians and indigenous people who follow Buddhism, the Christianity and Hinduism among other beliefs. . Race and religion can be divisive issues.
Anwar Ibrahim began his political career as a student activist, founding the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, known by its Malay acronym ABIM, in 1971.
He then joined UMNO, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become finance minister and deputy to then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, but in September 1998 he was suddenly sacked.
Mahathir accused Anwar of corruption and sodomy, a crime in Malaysia, and thousands took to the streets.
The episode, which saw Anwar jailed, led to an outcry for reform and the founding of the multiracial party Keadilan, which means justice in Malay, a vital pillar of the PH coalition. PH also includes the multiracial but mostly Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is unpopular with conservative Malays, and the reformist Islamist party Amanah.
It is also supported by MUDA, a youth party that has a seat in the new parliament.
The rise of the reform movement through the 2000s and beyond has driven a substantial realignment in Malaysian politics.
BN, a race-based coalition that also includes parties representing Malays of Chinese and Indian origin, once dominated the post-independence political landscape but lost power for the first time in 2018 – to PH – amid the multi-billion dollar scandal over 1MDB. His performance over the weekend was his worst ever.
The main beneficiary of the coalition’s woes has been PN, a Malay conservative group.
The coalition includes Bersatu, founded by UMNO members angry over 1MDB, and expanded by former Keadilan members whose defections in February 2020 led to the collapse of the PH government.
Also part of PN is the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), which has long controlled the northeastern state of Kelantan but has expanded its influence in recent years. The party, which has said it wants to introduce Islamic law, achieved its best performance in the recently concluded elections by winning 44 seats and becoming the largest party in parliament.
Borneo states, where Islam is not the majority religion, usually keep events on the peninsula – a two-hour flight across the South China Sea – at arm’s length. However, they pushed for greater recognition of their role in shaping Malaysia, and a greater share of the federal government’s revenue.
The leadership situation in BN also complicated the talks. The president of the alliance Zahid faced calls to resign for the electoral performance of the coalition, amid suspicions that he pressured Ismail Sabri to call the poll. He is also on trial for corruption charges related to a charity foundation.
Social media warning
The Malaysia-based Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) created a team to monitor hate speech on social media during the campaign and its data showed that race-based narratives dominated political discourse.
In part of the campaign analysis, he identified PAS and its leader Abdul Hadi Awang as among the worst offenders.
“They resorted to fear-mongering Muslim voters with phrases like ‘go to hell if you vote Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional’, and incite violence against ‘kafir harbi’ (enemies of Islam) , and to call on Malaysians to unite and fight the Chinese (DAP) and the Indians,” CIJ said in a statement.
Muhyiddin also drew criticism after he claimed at a PN rally that PH was working with Christians and Jews to “convert” Muslims in Malaysia in a speech widely shared on TikTok.
“Such statements, uttered carelessly, have a tendency to create racial and religious tensions and clashes,” Reverend Jonathan Jesudas, Secretary General of the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM), said in a statement.
Race and religion have remained dominant themes in some corners of social media since the election with videos referencing the May 1969 race riots in Kuala Lumpur circulating on Tiktok.
On Monday night, police warned people against posting “provocative” content.
“Severe actions … will be taken against users who attempt to incite a situation that may threaten security and public order,” police inspector general Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said in a statement.
The violence in 1969 led to the deaths of about 200 people, most of them ethnic Chinese, and followed a better-than-expected performance in that year’s elections by opposition parties supported by the Chinese community.
The material was condemned by Anwar, while Abdul Hadi warned people against provocations that could undermine harmony.
[ad_2]
Source link