Malaysians shun theocratic sociaty

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.