Politics and governance

Definition of Coalition

Coalition is an alliance enjoined by a number of parties to form a government. Based on

the definition given by Cambridge Dictionary, coalitions are the joining together of different political

parties or groups for a particular purpose, usually for a limited time, or a government that is formed in

this way.1 In a coalition government, multiple political parties work together and cooperate to reduce

any dominance of any one of the parties within the coalition.

Coalition is done by the parties of the government to strengthen and gain majority in the

parliament because the reason is that no party on its own will be able to gain and achieve majority on

its own.2 During the times of difficulties in national level coalition government might be created in order

to give the government higher chances of authority over the governing law. The political coalitions are

formed based on three reasons which are for the current government is to secure a governing

majority, whereas for the opposition is to create an alternative government to replace the in

government and during elections.

The ingredients to which a successful coalition is formed is that a mutual respect is

formed and there is understanding between the parties. Through this mutual respect, each partner

must practice and show a high level of ability to understand the other’s point of view even during

disagreement and dispute. A coalition is formed and it must include benefits for everyone and there

must be something for everyone. Tolerance is an important key in coalition as there must be a good

sense of partnership even though the size of members may vary. In the coalition each group must be

respected for their own unique attributes, and their own facts and opinions that are brought forward

1
Dictionary, C. (2019). COALITION | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Dictionary.cambridge.org. Available at:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/coalition [Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
2
Funston, J. and Funston, J. (2001). Government and politics in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
to the coalitions and it has an equitable and fair say in how decisions are formed and responsibility

and benefits are segregated.

There are many examples of coalition in the political field around the world but what

about our land, Malaysia? In general election of 14, the result of that election had created a new

history in Malaysia. This is because for the past 65 years since Malaysia had achieved independence

from the hand of British in the year of 1957 the Barisan Nasional (BN) has always been the

government for Malaysia as they are able to get the majority vote form the citizens, for the first time

Malaysia’s opposition has won in the general election which is the general election 14.3 After the old

parliament was dissolved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) formed a new

government on 10th May of 2018 right after the election. The coalitions done by Pakatan Harapan

which consists of People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), National Trust Party

(AMANAH) and Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), became one of the contributing

factors for winning the majority number of seats in the parliament.

We could trace back to the date of 30 October 1957, the three parties which are UMNO,

MCA and MIC formally registered as political organisation which was called Alliance Party or also

known as Parti Perikatan.4 This party was formed to play an important role which is in negotiating the

transition from British Rule to independence and helping to facilitate the preparation of it’s constitution.

After gaining independence on 31 August 1957 the Alliance was 74 of the 104 seats which were

contested in the general election which was held in the year 1959.

On 16 September 1963 the Alliance secured the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.

In the year of 1973, Barisan Nasional, a coalition of 9 parties formally replaced the Alliance Party in

3
Election.thestar.com.my. (2019). 14th General Election Malaysia (GE14 / PRU14) - Results Overview. [online] Available at:
https://election.thestar.com.my/ [Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
4
Election.thestar.com.my. (2019). 14th General Election Malaysia (GE14 / PRU14) - Results Overview. [online] Available at:
https://election.thestar.com.my/ [Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
June 1974 to contest the 1974 general election. The Alliance Party is described as a coalition with no

excuses towards ideological formulation. Political pragmatism was emphasised by the party and

strived hard to protect the bargain and preserve communal harmony. The coalition of this party are

stressed on socio-economic progress and development, extension of education, health, housing and

welfare services.

Barisan Nasional which is the opposition party after the General Election 14 of Malaysia

consists of coalitions which are with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Indian

Congress (MIC) and Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Sarawak United Peoples' Party, Parti

Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and Sabah Alliance when they first formed. But in the present, the

Barisan Nasional mainly consists of UMNO, MCA and MIC. To begin with UMNO was the founding

member of Barisan Nasional, which coalited with its predecessor which is the Alliance Party and it

had been control over the government of Malaysia till the general elections 14. The goals of this party

are to establish the needs and rights of Malay, the dignity of their race, islamic religion and country.5

The current chairman of this party is Ahmad Zahid Hamidi which used to be The Deputy Prime

Minister.6

The MIC also formerly known as Malaysian Indian Congress, it is also one of the members

who coalited to form Barisan Nasional and was one of the oldest parties in Malaysia. This party was

formed to fight for Indian independence rights from the British colonial rule. This party’s current

president is Vigneswaran Sanasee. This party represented the Indian community in the country and

it joined the National Alliance comprising the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in 1954 which became the Barisan Nasional in 1973.7

5
UMNO Online. (2019). Perjuangan UMNO - UMNO Online. [online] Available at: https://umno-online.my/sejarah/perjuangan/
[Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
6
UMNO Online. (2019). Presiden-presiden UMNO - UMNO Online. [online] Available at: https://umno-online.my/presiden/
[Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
7
Mic.org.my. (2019). History – MIC. [online] Available at: http://www.mic.org.my/about/history/ [Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
 The MCA is a party that represents the Chinese in Malaysia and it is one of the three major

opposition parties which formed the Barisan Nasional.8 In the year 1952, this party joined forces with

UMNO to contest the Kuala Lumpur municipal elections which eventually led to the formation of the

Alliance Party. The Alliance Party was then joined by MIC in the year 1954 and hence they then

contested for the first Malayan General Election in 1955 as one, and the alliance was announced that

they won 551 out of the 52 seats contested.9

May 13 Riots was a tragedy that happened in Malaysia that all the Malaysians are not

willing to talk about. This is one of the biggest racial conflict between the Malay and the Chinese. This

incident happened due to the election in the year 1969, where the coalition of Alliance faced a huge

challenge from the political parties that was just formed at that time which is the Democratic Action

Party (DAP) and Parti Gerakan that consist of majority of Chinese.10 The result of the election showed

that the Alliance party has only won less than the half of the seats, during that time the Chinese was

celebrating on the lorries about the election and they insulted the Malay. That was the major reason

that this incident started. This dilemma was overcome when the leadership of the coalition to

reestablish the political system into a new form of coalition which is more inclusive coalition which is

called Barisan Nasional.

The reasons that they are coalited to form BN because of they wanted to reduce the

political tension and political outbidding to lessen possibility of further disturbance on the 1969 scale.

Apart from that, it is also to establish political consensus in the country. Due to the coalition the Barisan

Nasional also allow greater representation of non-Malay political parties in the governmental affairs.

8
Malaysian Chinese Association. (2019). Malaysian Chinese Association. [online] Available at: http://www.mca.org.my/2
[Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
9
Arkib.gov.my. (2019). Official Portal of Malaysia National Archives. [online] Available at:
http://www.arkib.gov.my/en/web/guest/pilihanraya-umum-pertama-1955 [Accessed 27 Jan. 2019].
10
Hays, J. (2019). RACIAL DISCORD IN MALAYSIA AND THE RIOTS ON MAY 13, 1969 | Facts and Details. [online]
Factsanddetails.com. Available at: http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Malaysia/sub5_4a/entry-3625.html [Accessed 27
Jan. 2019].
 The Pakatan Harapan also known as Alliance of Hope is a clear example to illustrate the

coalition in Malaysia. The Pakatan Harapan is led by Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad. 11 The Pakatan

Harapan was formed on the year of 2015 and the coalition contain of three party which is the People's

Justice Party (PKR) which led by Anwar Ibrahim, Democratic Action Party (DAP) which led by Lim

Guan Eng, Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) led by Abdul Hadi Awang. This 3 parties is the major

opposition during that period. The People’s Justice Party is formed in the year 2003 as the result of

merging the older Malaysia People’s Party and the National Justice Party. The PKR’s motive is to

achieving the social justice in Malaysia and anti-corruption.

The DAP which was founded in the year of 1965 in the 11 of October by Chen Man Hin

and Devin Nair. Their objective is to promote social democracy, emphasis on secularism, achieving

social justice and carry out the spirit of multi racialism. Furthermore, the PAS was founded in 24

November 1951 by Burhanuddin al-Helmy. However, the past had break up with Pakatan Harapan

on 16 June 2015 due to their different perspective of view and opinion compare to the other parties.

On the year of 2015, there is a party that split-off from UMNO which is the Malaysian United

Indigenous Party (BERSATU) they joined Pakatan Harapan on 13 December of 2017. This party is

led by our current Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as the chairman and the president is Muhyiddin

Yasmin.

Reasons to why Pakatan Harapan Coalition was formed is to unite the opposition parties

to face the 14th general election. As stated previously the four party are PKR, Amanah, DAP and

BERSATU, which formed the Pakatan Harapan. PAS was invited in the formation of this new coalition

but PAS rejected the offer because it would not work with party traitors. Other than that, the Pakatan

Harapan wants a government that free from corruption, races conflict, stabile economic and so on.

The incident of 1MDB that involves our previous prime minster which was Dato' Sri Najib bin Tun Haji

11
Harapan, P. (2019). Pakatan Harapan. [online] Pakatanharapan.com.my. Available at: http://pakatanharapan.com.my/ [Accessed
27 Jan. 2019].
Abdul Razak where it turn down the heart of the citizen that supported him. Hence, many people had

putting high hope for Pakatan Haranpan to build up a better Malaysia.