Malaysians shun theocratic sociaty

Thang D. Nguyen, Political Analyst, Jakarta

As I watched the firework celebration of the Malaysian elections near the Petronas Towers last Sunday night, it was brought home to me that the National Front's landslide victory reflects the Malaysian people's choice of a progressive leader that they have seen thus far in Prime Minister of Abdullah Badawi (or Pak Lah, or Uncle Abdullah, as he is affectionately called) and the growth of Malaysia as an advanced nation.

By the same token, that the Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) lost the race shows that the Malaysian people do not want to live in theocratic society.

The campaigns by PAS before the 21 March elections were filled with a hard-line Islamic platform.

"It is stated in the Koran that those who rally behind Islam are also those who want to live under divine laws laid down by Allah," Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the 72-year-old premier of northern Kelantan state and the PAS spiritual leader, said at a rally. "Naturally, they will go to heaven for choosing an Islamic party, while those who support un-Islamic parties will logically go to hell."

If one looks at the history of the two parties and compares their platforms with each other, one can easily see why National Front won big. Whereas the National Front's platform is to sustain Malaysia as an economically strong and politically stable nation that it already is, PAS seeks to turn it into a theocracy.

Since Malaysia's independence from the British in 1957, the National Front (Barisan Nasional, or BN), which is a coalition led by the United Malay Nationalist Organization (UMNO), has always been the dominant force in Malaysian politics. UMNO, which is led by Abdullah who is an Islam scholar by training, has been and will remain to be, the most prominent party. All Malaysian prime ministers thus far have come from UMNO.

In addition to the indigenous Malays (pribumi, or "sons of the soils"), National Front is a political umbrella that covers the interests of and gets votes from other non-Muslim ethnic minorities, namely the Chinese and the Indians. Whereas the Malays (who account for 38 percent of the population) run politics, the Chinese (36 percent) and the Indians (9 percent) run the economy. This diverse and balanced constituency, combined with an economics-based platform, has made the National Front strong and more attractive.

In the past, PAS has been a tiny opposition party. Its constituency has increased in recent years, however. Its rise has made many Malaysian voters, especially the non-Muslim ones, quite concerned.

Although Islam is already the official religion in Malaysia, PAS ultimately wants to turn it into an Islamic state in which sharia (or Islamic law) is applied nationwide.

It is worth pointing out that some of the PAS voters are among the poor and uneducated in Malaysia, and this makes them easy targets to manipulate by financial means for votes, or much worse, terrorism or other activities by radical Muslim groups.

A more obvious reason behind the National Front's victory is the mere progress that Malaysia has achieved since its independence. It was under the National Front, with Mahathir as the UMNO chief, that Malaysia was transformed from a commodity- producing underdeveloped country into one of Asia's most advanced nations -- the 18th biggest trader in the world today.

In a society as diverse as Malaysia with many ethnic groups, cultures, and faiths, its economic progress is an outstanding achievement that makes many countries in the developing world envy.

What is more significant about Malaysia's economic progress is that it proves to holders of the view that the Muslim world is unfit for globalization that it is possible to modernize a Muslim society.

Malaysia's success has not been made of theocracy, and Malaysians were wise and right to stay where they are instead off getting a PAS stamp to go to heaven, assuming it is there.