home > by publication type > podcasts > Political Turmoil in Malaysia
Email
| Interviewee: | Bridget Welsh, Assistant Professor, Southeast Asian Studies, John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies |
|---|---|
| Interviewer: | Jayshree Bajoria, Staff Writer, CFR.org |
September 30, 2008
Malaysia has been in a political flux since March 2008 when the long-governing multiethnic coalition lost its two-thirds majority in the parliament. The biggest party in the coalition, United Malays National Organization, has ruled Malaysia for fifty-one years, first under the leadership of Mahathir Mohamad, and since 1993, under current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. But recently, calls for Abdullah's resignation (BBC) have grown louder and the opposition under Anwar Ibrahim has been claiming power.
Bridget Welsh, assistant professor of Southeast Asian studies at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, says Abdullah's failure to implement reforms, to control his party effectively, and to deal with racial relations have led to calls for his resignation. She says Abdullah has alienated most of the minorities in the country, mainly the Indians and the Chinese, who contributed to the ruling coalition's electoral upset in March. These two groups, which make up one-third of Malaysia's 27 million people, resent the government's decades-old policy that gives preferential treatment to ethnic Malays, and the lack of religious freedom in the Muslim-majority country. Now they have moved toward the opposition, says Welsh, allowing it to offer a "multiethnic alternative" to the current coalition.
Under Abdullah's leadership, Malaysia's position in Southeast Asia as well as the Islamic world has declined, says Welsh. She says Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad put the country on the international stage. "Some of that was controversial, some of that was alienating to the West, but it fundamentally gave Malaysians a sense of pride." But now, she says, Malaysian foreign policy is reactive and lacks coherence.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
I understand that I may access this podcast solely for my personal use. Any other use of the file and its content, including display, distribution, reproduction, or alteration in any form for any purpose, whether commercial, noncommercial, educational, or promotional, is expressly prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner, the Council on Foreign Relations. For more information, write webmaster@cfr.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.