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'They've outgrown race-based politics'
08-Feb-2008, Independent Online

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysians have outgrown race-based politics and overwhelmingly want the ruling Barisan National coalition to merge into a multiracial party, according to a survey reported Tuesday.

The New Straits Times cited the Merdeka Centre research firm as saying that majority Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians no longer believe they are betraying their race by voting across ethnic lines.

The phenomenon was seen in March 8 elections, when the Malay-dominated coalition suffered an unprecedented setback as support swung towards a three-party coalition alliance led by the multiracial Keadilan party.

Its partners, the Islamic party PAS and the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party also enjoyed solid support from Malaysians of all races who made a strong protest vote against the coalition.

The Merdeka Centre - which polled 1 000 voters from March 14-21 - found that two in every three voters want the coalition, which is made up of 14 parties representing particular races, to meld into a single entity.

"For 40 years, the BN represented the best set of compromises possible in a multiracial society. It now has a chance to reinvent itself," the centre's executive director Ibrahim Suffian told the daily.

Ibrahim said there was an urgent need for reform within the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which helms the coalition that has dominated Malaysian politics since independence half a century ago.

"It is clear what the electorate wants, but that may be at odds with what UMNO wants," he said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has acknowledged that the drubbing in the polls, which saw the coalition lose a third of parliamentary seats and five states, was a call for reform from voters.

However, he has insisted he has a mandate to rule and has rejected calls to stand down to take responsibility for the unprecedented electoral setback.

The survey found that the issues which dominated the polls, including anger over the government's handling of the economy and tense race relations, as well as crime and corruption, continued to concern voters.