Malaysia’s one-party dominant system is over, says academic

KUCHING, Aug 28 — The one-party dominant system is over and post-election negotiation across many parties to secure majorities to form the next government will emerge to be the new normal in the country’s political scenario, said political scientist Prof Datuk Jayum Jawan.

The academician from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) said with such a new phase, all parties would become important in the overall process of political negotiation.

“The date of the coming general elections no longer matters. Whenever it is held, the people will return the same pattern of results as in 2018.

“The time of one-party dominant is gone. The new political normal will be that after the elections, there will be negotiation across many parties to try to secure comfortable majorities or, at the very least, to attain a minimum so that a government can be formed.

“In this way, all parties become important in the overall process of political negotiation,” he said yesterday, in response to the recent announcement of the tabling of 2023 Budget that was set on Oct 7.

Jayum believed that there would be political parties that would be divisive and not be able to come or work together, based on their prevailing platforms or ideologies.

“However, this is all right because the new political situation in Malaysia requires a stable government and at the same time a strong opposition,” he said, while pointing out that this will be good for effective role of check and balance as well as for good governance.

“The current situation befalling Umno and its popular leaders are a push toward a little more certainty that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob becomes a stronger favourite as Umno candidate for the prime ministership for the present PN coalition.”

Jayum, however, wondered if this could be certain since the PN leadership is headed by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and not Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

As such, the political scientist said the PN council should decide on the next prime minister should the coalition win the election.

“Most importantly, which PN component party gets to have a bigger say on who will be the next prime minister,” Jayum said, adding that this also depends on how each component party performs in the coming general election. — Borneo Post