6 - Politics in the 1990s: Regime Change or Regime Consolidation

Summary

Why not say bravely that the people of Malaysia are too immature for a workable democracy? Why not say that we need some form of authoritarian rule? We are doing that anyway and it looks as if we are going to do that for a very long time to come. The racial composition of our country is such that real democratic process can promote as much ill-will as authoritarian rule. The disadvantage of the democratic process is that it satisfies no one. Authoritarian rule can at least produce a stable strong government. … we must accept that there is not going to be a democracy in Malaysia; there never was and there never will be.

(Mahathir Mohamad 1969)

DAP's defeat in the last 1995 general election was not because DAP did not make reform … BN's great victory was because Mahathir was more liberal. Several issues, like language, culture and education, which DAP fought for before was adopted and practised by the BN government.

(Lim Kit Siang 1997)

As shown in the period 1987–90, the presence of substantial opposition within the dominant Malay community did not necessarily bring about greater political openness or democratic accountability in Malaysia. On the contrary, since the mid-1980s, deepening UMNO factionalism seemed to encourage the dominant Malay political élite to adopt a more assertive approach. The élite curtailed the political and civil liberties of its opponents, while provoking racial sentiment when politically expedient. As a result of the political challenge from UMNO dissidents, regaining Malay support became a priority for the Mahathir government. Under these circumstances the government could hardly exhibit greater sensitivity to the demands of non-Malay supporters, despite their growing political importance. A series of tactical appeasement gestures, before and during the 1990 general election, was also implemented in ways that avoided alienating Malay support. The situation during 1987–90 was such that the Mahathir government could not afford to appear to be making concessions to non-Malays which might incite Malay emotions.