Barisan Nasional – Political Dominance and the General Elections of 2004 in Malaysia
In: Südostasien aktuell: journal of current Southeast Asian affairs, Band 26, Heft 2, S. 38-65
This paper examines how the Barisan Nasional (National Front, BN) coalition has held power in
Malaysia since that country's independence in 1957. The first of two perspectives taken in this
examination looks at the practical impediments to opposition party participation during general
elections. This is refracted through the prism of the campaign during the 2004 general elections
of a Parti KeADILan Rakyat candidate. The second perspective looks at the broader cultural
environment in which elections occur in Malaysia. In particular, the BN plays upon popular fears
of a recurrence of ethnic violence that occurred in 1969 when opposition parties polled strongly to
portray itself as the keeper of the country's peace. The examination of both practical mechanisms
and the cultural environment allow a more complete understanding of how the BN maintains
its political dominance in Malaysia.