Keadilan’s successes in the 13th general election

MAY 24 — In the immediate aftermath of the 13th general election, there are many things that Keadilan leaders nationwide are rightly preoccupied about: the blatant electoral abuses by Barisan Nasional and the Election Commission; the vicious racist cycle being perpetuated by Najib Razak’s “balanced” administration and some soul-searching on how to improve ourselves moving forward.

It is significant that in spite of the populist cash handouts and an expensive public relations campaign by Umno-BN, it was Pakatan Rakyat that won the popular vote. Let us not dismiss the magnitude of this: it clearly shows the differences between the two political coalitions in Malaysia today.

Umno, and by extension BN, is still stuck in the past. Umno’s ethos is still of an authoritarian, rural party that it is increasingly if not totally out of touch with the product of the NEP that it created: a younger, diverse and urban Malay community that is fast becoming comfortable, indeed melding with Malaysian society as a whole.

The race-based component parties too are stuck with their assigned roles that originated from the divide-and-rule policies of the colonial period. The MCA and MIC presidents largely restrict themselves (and also get treated by Umno) as modern-era Chinese and Indian kapitans respectively. 

Originally multiracial parties such as Gerakan or PPP have become largely irrelevant, squeezed by the racial ethos of Umno-BN on one side and the success of Pakatan’s non-racial approach in the urban areas on the other.

While Najib branded the swing against Umno-BN as a “Chinese tsunami”, Keadilan is the best evidence that it was anything but. The 14-year-old party has emerged from the election as the only party that won at least a seat in all states of the federation and the Federal Territories — from Perlis to Sabah. Indeed, Keadilan has the largest number of state assemblymen in Sabah. Our MPs and state assemblymen now consist of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban, Orang Hulu and Kadazans.

Keadilan has continued the trend of making mixed constituencies — once the mainstay of Umno-BN — its stronghold. Continuing the development from the 2011 Sarawak state election, the party has continued to make inroads in east Malaysia, largely overcoming its previous, underserved reputation as being a "Peninsular party." Nevertheless, the east Malaysian Bumiputera segment remains the biggest hurdle for Keadilan and Pakatan.

While the party has one less parliamentary seat than in 2008, it has increased its total votes at the federal level from 1.5 million to 2.3 million, or 18.6 per cent to 20.4 per cent of the popular votes nationwide.

The quality of representatives has improved significantly compared to 2008. More importantly, youthful leadership — both from the 2008 batch such as Nurul Izzah Anwar, Sim Tze Tzin and S. Kesavan — as well as from the recent election like Rafizi Ramli, Darell Leiking and Shamsul Iskandar — continues to feature strongly among both elected representatives and senior office holders of the party. This bodes well for the future of the party.

In addition, Keadilan staggered its announcement of the party’s candidates. Many of those who were announced early were able to establish themselves in their constituencies and emerged successful in the elections. This approach should be replicated more extensively in future polls.

Keadilan and Pakatan can also take pride in the fact that we largely set the agenda of the 13th general election — both by articulating bold policy ideas that captured the imagination of the voters and exposing corruption scandals that had largely been ignored by the mainstream media. This placed Umno-BN on the defensive to the point that the ruling coalition had to delay the publication of its manifesto and eventually copy many of Pakatan’s proposals.

The success of establishing a party-related think-tank, Institut Rakyat, advised by many formidable corporate, academic and activist figures, also shows that the party is serious in developing its policy credentials. It was launched too close to the elections to perhaps have an immediate impact but one is confident that it will play a major role in future elections.

The party has shown itself to be Malaysia’s most successful multiracial party in history. This is despite being attacked by many as a temporary phenomenon or the “weakest link” in Pakatan; 2013 has proven how wrong this all is.

The key for us now is to move forward and remain united, to build upon our strengths and iron out any weaknesses both within Keadilan and in Pakatan.

While many party supporters may be disheartened by the election results, let us not forget what we have achieved. The road ahead will be long and difficult but ultimately what we’re fighting for is a better country for everyone.

The campaign for the next general election and indeed for the future of Malaysia has just begun.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.