Badawi's lack of vision opened door for Anwar
Updated
Anwar Ibrahim's victory is a culmination of a decade-long push to rebuild his political career after he was sacked and jailed for six years.
But he's facing fresh sexual misconduct charges he argues are a trumped-up bid by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to keep him out of government.
Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speaker: Political analyst Professor Bridget Welsh from John Hopkins University
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WELSH: I think this was a free election, but I don't think it was a fair election. Malaysia's parliament elections have traditionally been full of tactics that actually are very questionable. They threw millions of dollars at voters, they used tactics of vote buying, as well as phantom voters as was reported and they threw the kitchen sink at Anwar Ibrahim in terms of the charges that were laid against him. They used the state apparatus to actually charge people in his party to kind of create an impression that his party was guilty of corruption. They did this in a week, which is on record time and the good thing for Malaysians is they saw through these dirty tricks and they voted decisively for, in a free vote, for a landslide victory for Anwar Ibrahim.
I do think the issues associated with the tactics, as well as the use and abuse of electoral machinery raises questions about how Malaysia conducts its elections, but it's no surprise that they use these tactics.
PODGER: Yesterday's victory is the culmination of more than ten years hard work by Mr Anwar to get back into politics. But to what extent was yesterday's vote, a vote for Mr Anwar and a vote against Mr Badawi?
WELSH: I think this was more a vote for what Anwar stands for and change, and there are three key elements that I would highlight. First, they are tired of the corruption and they want better governance. Malaysians speak loudly about this. Ethnic minorities, particularly Chinese and Indians, who faced also intimidation at the polls, want a sense of inclusion and Anwar Ibrahim has done that through his party, and it's not just his party, I want to point out.This victory was a victory for Parti Rakyat Alliance. Anwar would not have done so well without the cooperation of the Islamic Party who work the ground in the Malay areas and in the Democratic Action Party that made Tuesday a state holiday to make sure there were enough voters to be able to actually have that turnout. So the questions associated with governance, inclusion and important the sense of direction ambition and this is really a question about Abdullah and his deputy is really crucial.
Abdullah has not provided a sense of vision for the country. When he came in 2003 and co-opted the reform agenda in 2004, he promised to deliver some sort of reform. None of those were delivered, and so you saw a protest vote as well as an embrace of a different agenda in the March polls, but you have seen that reinforced. And what's interesting about Permatang Pauh, this particular constitutency, it's very representative of Malaysia as a whole, because it has a combination of urban and rural. Similiar ethnic composition to the, to the Peninsula and I think in a sense, it's actually a microcosm of what Malaysians want. They want a different system.
PODGER; Just briefly Professor Walsh, last night Bernama newsagency said Mr Badawi plans to adjourn parliament from Friday until the Muslim fasting period, Ramadan ends in October. What does that mean for Mr Anwar's hopes of getting the numbers to overturn government by mid-September?
WELSH: Well, the first thing, as you mentioned in your report, he has to be able to get sworn into parliament. Normally this can be done within one day. There are clearly indications that this may not happen before Friday. I think there is some clear reservations on the part of the BN of wanting to not have him be able to sit in parliament. They are tabling the budget for a day, and essentially closing parliament for almost six weeks, as of course this is for the religious holiday, but it also puts a period where there actually the elites will no longer be in town, and so there is not a viable opportunity to actually meet them in Kuala Lumpur. But I do think you are going to have a situation during this religious period, where there is going to be intensive back room elite politics going on.
