After regime change

Ross Tapsell reviews a new book on Malaysian politics ahead of the ANU Malaysia Update 2020 “Alternative Visions for Malaysia”.

Malaysia has another new government; Tricia Yeoh looks at the ramifications of past leadership approaches on the new coalition's future.

Time is running out for the state's rebranded BN government, despite a late embrace of 'state nationalism'.

The 'new Malaysia' challenge is to redefine its trade and industrial policies, and to work out where the new sources of growth and tax revenue can be, more so after the GST's removal.

Can the new climate change ministry navigate the complex politics of competing interests when tackling the threats of extreme weather? Or is an independent commission answerable to Parliament needed to hold the government to account?

Despite the routing of UMNO at GE14 amid regime change, Malay politicians still dominate the new coalition government.

As long as the global attitude towards religious issues doesn't change, and Malaysians themselves mostly stay silent on these issues, the temptation will always be to smother dissent in the ‘invisibility cloak of religion’.

Establishing parliamentary committees will help the new PH government meet its GE14 promises of better governance, as ministers and senior officials can be called to account.

Will current levels of caution on Bumiputera policies persist, or will the new government seize the opportunity to reform? Will it remain fearful of being accused of sidelining Malays, or will it make Malays more capable and competitive?

By drawing stricter boundaries between what is ‘Islamic’ and ‘un-Islamic’, and between who is ‘Malay’ and ‘non-Malay’, the anxiety about 'Malay unity' is addressed in a post-May 9 Malaysia.

The GE14 result reflects PAS' enduring influence, yet the PH parties together with IKRAM and ABIM offer a viable ‘Islamic alternative’ for pious Muslim voters.

The ‘cari makan’ or a rent-seeking political culture may be the hardest thing to reform in Malaysia, even under a reformist government. And human nature will make this almost impossible to do.

Murray Hunter articulates why Malaysia's opposition does not deserve to take over the federal government.

Regime change in itself will not automatically bring the powerful state down, writes Kikue Hamayotsu