The Malaysian Insider

JAN 30 — A political party or coalition is inclusive if it enjoys adequate membership support across all key communities in the country and its leadership is premised on a power-sharing formula. I maintain the argument that if democracy is to thrive as a force for good in Malaysia, each side of Parliament must be made up of constituency representatives who belong to a sustainably inclusive party or coalition.

Why is inclusiveness relevant? Because we still have a very strong sense of cohesiveness towards our respective communities. Non-inclusive parties and coalitions are only supported by some communities but not others, and as such create communal divisiveness and instability.

By Suflan Shamsuddin

DEC 21 - There are 3 hard truths about politics in Malaysia, whether you like it or not:

* Race and religion remains the primary criterion for political choice (meaning to say, that a significant number of votes are cast essentially in support of or in rejection of race/religious-based politics).

* Any party that lacks the support of a key community in Malaysia is 'non-inclusive' and is seen as hostile to such community's interest.

The more asymmetrical and non-inclusive are the choices of opposition political parties at an election, the greater the risk of social instability and the likelihood of government intervention to quell such volatility.

OCT 25 — In my book “RESET: Rethinking the Malaysian Political Paradigm”, I consider whether or not the political problems and uncertainties that we face today stems from 50 years of ethnic-based politics, its policies and its leadership; or the prevalence of a disharmonious and dysfunctional imbalance in the way democratic choice is exercised (since choice is exercised between a) an inclusive coalition behind which lurks a Malay hegemony; and b) non-inclusive parties (that each appeal to one community but not the other who hide behind a secular or religious ideology)).

I explain that it is the latter; in that this imbalance facilitates volatility in society for which the use of prerogatives and patronage becomes justified in the minds of the Establishment so as to maintain a state of equilibrium. This exacerbates a conflict in the role of leadership, between the duty to protect society from inter and intra communal instability (because of the impact of non-inclusivity), and the desire to maintain its ideological dominance for the sake of protecting the status quo. The use of the ISA, the incidence of institutionalised chauvinism, issues around the independence of the judiciary, money politics, nepotism and cronyism, a lack of transparency in government, are all symptoms of this malignant condition.