Malaysia election results reveal shift in voting patterns
By G Manimaran, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 10 March 2008 1630 hrs

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KUALA LUMPUR: The results of Malaysia's general election revealed a major shift in voting patterns, with more bumiputras giving their votes to non-Malays and non-Muslims.

Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition suffered its worst election results in decades, with five out of 13 states going to the opposition.

The opposition camp will run Penang, which is the home state of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, and Kedah, Perak, Selangor, and Kelantan, which has been under opposition rule for almost two decades.

James Wong, consultant of Malaysiakini and former opposition MP, said: "What unite these opposition parties (are) two factors. One is inflationary pressure on (ordinary) people... and the second is general feeling of insecurity of everyday life, e.g. crime rate, that unite all the races."

"On top of that you have (a) very major factor that unites the opposition, that's Anwar (Ibrahim). I think the BN government has made strategic blunder. They did not allow Anwar to contest... That allowed him to... free himself from contesting, so he had time to strategise for other people," he added.

Two issues took centre stage in this election - security and considerations of race and religion.

Analysts said the prime minister may have underestimated the importance of the two issues.

"Of course the Indian emotion has a contagious effect on the Chinese because the Indian and Chinese share a common background and status as the minorities. They share the same problems - education, temples etc. so the Indian really inspired the Chinese," Mr Wong said.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar, head of global studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said: "I would argue that among the reasons is perhaps this perception whether (it is) right or wrong that the Abdullah leadership has not been effective in handling some of the problems (faced by) the people, including rising cost of living, rising crime rate and issues pertaining to religion and ethnicity in the country."

"You have different segments of Malay society, different communities, perceiving that the leadership has not been effective, that governance has not been as competent as it should be," he added.

Now that the ruling coalition no longer has a two-thirds majority in parliament, it cannot change the constitution or make some key appointments.

In the months ahead, political observers wonder how BN will pursue its agenda, including the establishment of multi-billion dollar development zones across the country. - CNA/ac