26 Asia The EconomistJune 9th 2018
T
HE headquarters of the United Malays National Organisation
(UMNO), a party founded to defend the interests of Malays,
Malaysia’s biggest ethnic group, feels stuck in the past. Defeated
sofas and tired photographs speak to glory days now gone. In the
lobby is a collage of pictures of the great and good of the party,
which had run the country for 60 years before losing an election
last month. A baby-faced Najib Razak, the prime minister ousted
just a few weeks ago, appears close to Mahathir Mohamad, his
successor. But although Dr Mahathir once ran Malaysia as the
leader ofUMNO, these days he relies on the backing of a coalition
ofUMNO’s adversaries, known as Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Times have changed, in other words. The same police who
used to bully the luminaries ofPHare now concentrating their at-
tention on Mr Najib. Raids on his properties have yielded jewel-
lery, cash and 284 boxes of handbags, all impounded as evidence
in an investigation into alleged embezzlement. Mr Najib himself
has been barred from leaving the country. But even as Malaysian
politics has been turned upside-down, there has been little ques-
tioning of the premise on which UMNOhad governed Malaysia
since independence: that Malays deserve special privileges.
Race has dominated Malaysian politics since colonial times.
Indeed, the British fomented racial discord as a means of main-
taining control. Malays were kept toiling in the fields, whereas
ethnic-Indian and -Chinese merchants and labourers were wel-
comed into cities. Affirmative action on behalf of Malays began
soon after the British left in the 1950s, and their “special position”
was recognised in the constitution. Race riots in the 1960s led to
the adoption of the “New Economic Policy” in 1971, which insti-
tuted an elaborate system of preferences for Malays and other in-
digenous groups in university admissions, hiring in the civil ser-
vice, government contracting and so on. Originally introduced as
a temporary measure, the policy helped shape a corrupt system
of patronage politics that proved predictably durable.
In many respectsPHmarks a break with all this. The coalition
thatUMNOled was composed almost exclusively of racially de-
fined parties, including the Malaysian Chinese Association and
the Malaysian Indian Congress. The biggest party in PH, in con-
trast, is the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which is proudly multi-
racial, although led by another formerUMNOgrandee, AnwarIbrahim. The second-biggest isthe Democratic Action Party
(DAP), which is supported by Chinese and Indian voters—ie, the
victims of racial preferences—and unsurprisingly argues against
them. Voters united across racial and religious divides to support
the coalition, which also includes explicitly Muslim and indige-
nous parties. But the government is not seizing its opportunity to
undo racially discriminatory policies. The coalition hangs togeth-
er partly because all parties have agreed on a binding principle:
that the constitution and its privileges for Malays are supreme.
Nurul Izzah, daughter of Mr Anwar and a champion of reform
in PKR, advises caution when it comes to changing affirmative ac-
tion. “You shouldn’t push too hard,” she says, “your efforts must
gain traction with the electorate.” She worries that the assault on
racial privileges that urban types want will alienate voters in ru-
ral areas, where many Malays live. If provoked, they could turn
back to UMNOor to PAS, a conservative Islamic party. Saddiq
Abdul Rahman, the head of the youth wing of Dr Mahathir’s new
party, Bersatu, which limits membership to Malays and other in-
digenous people, has no doubt that “a more multiracial, inclusive
Malaysia” approaches. But he admits that race will prove “a tough
discussion” within the governing coalition.
The government has struck a few small blows for equality. Dr
Mahathir selected an Indian as attorney-general, the first time the
job has gone to a non-Malay. Better yet, after a brief delay, his
choice was approved by the king, a job held in rotation among
the country’s nine sultans, who are the leaders of Islam in their re-
spective states. The finance minister, Lim Guan Eng, is Chinese—
another appointment that caused palpitations among Malay
chauvinists. And Azizah Ismail, wife of Mr Anwar, is the coun-
try’s first female deputy prime minister.
These encouraging developments are unlikely to be followed
by anything more audacious. The government’s best chances for
reform will slip away as the election grows more distant and vot-
ers less euphoric. A tweaking of affirmative action policies is pos-
sible, perhaps to ensure that benefits go more to poor Malays,
rather than government cronies. But discrimination will persist.
Instead the new administration will focus on quick wins. So
far these have included abolishing a hated goods-and-services
tax (the government reduced the rate from 6% to zero on June 1st),
investigating the scandal at1MDB(a state investment vehicle
from which $4.5bn disappeared on Mr Najib’s watch) and re-
viewing huge infrastructure projects (a planned high-speed rail
link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore has been cancelled).Why so glumno?
HowUMNOresponds to its defeat, and to the more diverse politi-
cal culture of the new government, hangs in the balance. Many in
the party doubt soul-searching is needed at all. “The politics of
ethnicity is still very strong,” explains Khairy Jamaluddin, the
party’s greying youth chief and a candidate to become its vice-
president (as well as a former intern atThe Economist). “People
are averse to offering radical ideas right now.”
More liberal members fear that a strong multiracial message
from PHmay leave UMNOin the dust, particularly with younger
voters, unless the Malay party can embrace change too. The last
attempt to foster diversity within UMNOwas made by a leader
who took over in 2009. The campaign in question, 1 Malaysia,
called for reforms to affirmative action in the name of national
unity. It was soon discarded. No one in the party now wants to
emulate the man who dreamed it up: the disgraced Mr Najib. 7One country, two systems
It was easier to get rid of Malaysia’s ruling party than its racial policiesBanyan