Malaysia Matters Podcast

Reports of early results show Anwar winning by a landslide in the by-election contest over the parliamentary seat his wife gave up. 

IHT is reporting that, “With 18 percent of the vote counted, Anwar was leading by 5,855 votes to 1,910, according to the Malaysian Election Commission.” Anwar’s chief information deputy has declared victory and said Anwar: ”We are entering Parliament with a clear agenda and they [ the governing coalition] should wake up with the stark realities of the day.” 

If the numbers hold firm, Anwar’s claim that there there has been a mandate for change will carry enough weight to make real the potential for sufficient defections from the National Front to bring the PKR into power. He needs 30 to do so in order to accomplish this by his stated date of September 16th. 

Tricia Yeoh, director of the Center for Public Policy Studies, said she believed there was enough infighting and disaffection within the governing party that these defections were feasible. But Anwar’s opposition movement is still young and its unity could fray if it moves too quickly into power, she said.

“I do think they have sufficient numbers,” Yeoh said of Anwar and his allies. “The issue is whether it’s the best and most strategic move for him now.”

Anwar’s coalition is a precarious balance between a those representing ethnic minorities and hard line PAS, who seek an Islamic state.  Anwar’s winning argument, something both factions can agree upon is an anti-corruption message.

“One of the things that has held this country back is the issue of corruption - resources are not being distributed in a way that is fair to the vast majority of people,” said Bridget Welsh, a specialist in Malaysian politics at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

But it is questionable whether Anwar, who himself has a checkered past, can be relied upon to match virtue with rhetoric. And minorities should be extremely concerned about his underlying interest in an Islamic state. The record indicates that to be the direction he would lead.