An account by human rights lawyer, Malik Imtiaz provides fascinating insights into why the Barisan Nasional was given its most humiliating beating in Malaysia's political history. He wrote on how civil society groups, non-government organizations, independent journalists and concerned individuals including bloggers have ceaselessly worked to "give shape to the hopes of Malaysians and forging a voice for the disenfranchised". Non-Malay disaffection with the Barisan Coalition was evident, but why did the Malays, traditionally the back-bone of the Barisan coalition government's power, decide to throw in their lot with the opposition to deny the Barisan its two-third majority? He suggested that Malaysians have finally made a clean break from the shackles of race politics and patronage and laid the ghost of May 13th to rest.
Poster of the Barisan Rakyat (the People's Front) from Malaysia Today
No comments:
Post a Comment