Malaysia struggles for revival as social unrest grows<\/p>\n
By Gwen Benjamin<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): For Malaysia, 1998 was an unsettling year.
\nThe country has been struggling to revive its slumping economy
\nwhile trying to suppress growing political unrest arising from
\nthe sacking and arrest of deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
Since Anwar's Sept. 2 sacking as deputy premier and finance
\nminister, the capital has been shaken by anti-government
\ndemonstrations, with protesters clashing with police and
\ndemanding the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.<\/p>\n
In protests unseen in the country in almost three decades,
\nthousands of Anwar supporters and anti-government demonstrators
\nhave staged noisy protests at mosques and along the city's
\nstreets calling for \"reformasi\" or reforms.<\/p>\n
\"Reformasi\" was the rallying cry of the charismatic Anwar
\nafter he was sacked from office. In the three weeks before his
\nSeptember 20 arrest, he toured the country, drawing tens of
\nthousands to his rallies where he denounced Mahathir's 17-year-
\nold administration for being riddled with \"corruption, cronyism
\nand nepotism.\"<\/p>\n
Malaysians, unused to challenging authority, were disturbed by
\nscenes of riot police shooting jets of chemically-laced water and
\ntear gas on the mainly Moslem Malay protesters, as well as by the
\nsight of protesters, who included women, being chased, beaten and
\nherded into trucks.<\/p>\n
Local human rights activists and non-governmental groups,
\nwhich have long lamented the lack of democratic rights, press
\nfreedom and accountability under Mahathir, slammed the police
\ncrackdown as well as the arrest of Anwar and his supporters.<\/p>\n
Anwar's arrest under the Draconian Internal Security Act,
\nwhich allows for detention without trial, and his alleged beating
\nwhile in police custody - he turned up in court with a black eye
\n- drew international and regional condemnation against Malaysia.<\/p>\n
United States Vice President Al Gore, attending an Asia-
\nPacific summit in Kuala Lumpur in November, openly backed the
\nanti-government protesters, calling them the \"brave people\" of
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
Anwar is now on trial for corruption and sodomy, which he
\ndenies and blames on a high-level political conspiracy
\nmasterminded by Mahathir to destroy his political career. If
\nfound guilty, Anwar faces up to 20 years in jail and will be
\ndisqualified from running in elections.<\/p>\n
Anwar also claims his sacking came because he opposed
\nMahathir's plans to use state and pension funds to bail out huge
\ncorporations, linked to the ruling elite, which were saddled with
\nhuge debts caused by the region's economic crisis.<\/p>\n
The open defiance of Anwar and his supporters poses the most
\nserious challenge to Mahathir since the premier almost lost in
\nparty polls in 1987 as president of the ruling United Malays
\nNational Organization (UMNO) party. Anwar was sacked as deputy
\nUMNO president.<\/p>\n
UMNO is the dominant member of Mahathir's Barisan Nasional
\n(National Front) coalition government. The multi-racial Barisan
\nhas ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, 73, has rejected demands that he quit, saying he
\nneeds to tackle the economic crisis which has sent Malaysia
\nsliding into its first recession in 13 years. GDP growth for this
\nyear is set to contract 4.8 per cent, against last year's 7.7 per
\ncent expansion.<\/p>\n
He also condemned the anti-government protesters for stirring
\nup unrest which would frighten away foreign investors and hamper
\nthe government's efforts to revive the economy.<\/p>\n
\"What kind of reformasi do they want? Do we want our country
\nto end up like other countries where the races cannot live in
\npeace?\" he said recently, adding that those seeking political
\nchange should do so legally through elections. Mahathir has to
\ncall for polls by early 2000.<\/p>\n
Malaysia suffered bloody racial riots in 1969 between the
\nmajority Malays and richer Chinese, but pro-Malay government
\npolicies in business and education have since kept racial ties
\nharmonious.<\/p>\n
The Chinese community, the second biggest racial group and
\nnumbering around five million of the 21 million population, have
\nprivately voiced fears over the anti-government protests,
\nespecially since \"reformasi\" protests in Indonesia deteriorated
\ninto anti-Chinese riots. The protests in Malaysia have so far
\nremained within police control.<\/p>\n
Anwar's sacking and arrest \"marks a watershed\" in Malaysian
\npolitics, said political scientist and social critic Chandra
\nMuzaffar.<\/p>\n
He said Islamic egalitarianism, mass education and the
\nemergence of a Malay middle class have eroded one of the main
\ncharacteristics of Malaysian politics, which is \"unquestioning
\nacceptance of, and acquiescence with\" the authority of the state.<\/p>\n
\"The ability to overcome fear is an important prerequisite for
\npolitical change,\" he said, adding that the Anwar crisis has
\nforever changed Malay political culture and Malaysian democracy.<\/p>",
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