Mahathir's victory
When confronted with a choice between living in a country with assured economic growth, peace and stability, and living in a nation with promised good governance, better human rights and social justice, most people will opt for the first. That is human nature.
And this was what Malaysians did when they cast their ballots in Monday's general election, entrusting Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad with a fifth consecutive term in office despite his 18 years of rule, which many believe has been too long and authoritative.
The final results of the poll announced on Tuesday showed that Mahathir's 14-party National Front (Barisan Nasional) coalition won 148 of the 193 seats contested in the parliamentary elections, while the opposition, the four-party Alternative Front (Barisan Alternatif) coalition, grabbed 45 seats.
Mahathir's victory came as no surprise since the 73-year-old leader has brought economic gains and racial unity and harmony to Malaysia's multiethnic population of 22 million. Besides, more than 85 percent of political advertisements and media coverage during the campaign were skewed to his ruling coalition.
Although groups of foreign and local observers assigned to monitor the poll -- believed to be the most crucial since Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957 -- have said that they found no election-rigging, the opposition alleged that it was a "dirty and vicious" election. The opposition also blamed the Election Commission for depriving the rights of around 700,000 young Malaysians by intentionally neglecting to process their papers in time.
More than that, the opposition also denounced the commission's decision to set a nine-day election campaign, the shortest in Malaysia's history, that gave them only a little time to prepare for such a decisive event in the country.
The fact that the National Front coalition could not maintain the 162 seats it obtained four years ago indicates that the opposition is gaining more supporters, especially from the younger generation of Malaysians who wish to see more changes and greater political liberalization and freedom of speech.
Another reason that led to the opposition's vote gain is the jailing of former finance minister and deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who, many believe, has been the victim of a political conspiracy by Mahathir. Anwar's wife, Azizah Ismail, has now become the symbol of opposition and political reform.
Mahathir, obviously, should lend an ear to the demands of his people and realize that a government that offers economic prosperity alone with no social justice and democracy can never win its people's full support.
It is expected, therefore, that Mahathir will be more open and receptive to public criticism, especially in clarifying the opposition's allegations of his giving favors to his cronies in the country's big projects and other issues of abuse of power.
He should best learn from Indonesia's experience that, in an era of reform and the prevalence of democratization process in the region, he could not but give greater freedom of speech and fairer distribution of wealth to his people. No less important is that arrests of those critical of him and his government, which have so far been justified by the Internal Security Act, should no longer happen if he wants to demonstrate to the world that he rules Malaysia democratically.