Class differentiation affecting political realignments
Naragan NPublished: Jun 17, 2009 9:26 AM | Updated: Jun 17, 2009 9:27 AM
Before proceeding with the discussion, we all have to agree on a few fundamentals.
Take the major peninsula based political parties in the country - Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, PAS, PKR, DAP - look at the various indicators - their membership profiles, the substantial constituencies they represent, the overt and the not so overt policies they promote and their leadership profiles.
I have summarised them and I do not think I am too far away from the truth though there may be some disagreements about a few of my conclusions. But anyway, I use this as a starting point for my discussion.
Studying the structure of the political parties, it looks like class differentiation is occurring across the spectrum of these political parties.
The upper classes within the three major races are being represented by Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan combined while the PKR and DAP represent the middle and lower-income classes among the Malays and the Chinese.
PAS, however, seems to represent Muslims across all the classes and appears not to be class- based yet. PPP is too small to matter in this regard.
In my opinion, the class differentiation occurred with the Chinese first with DAP and MCA circa the 1950s . Then it started to happen with the Malays - beginning with Anwar Ibrahim's incarceration 1999.
In 2007, the class differentiation among the Indians abruptly showed itself. This process has not been linear or orchestrated - differentiation within each ethnic group was driven by its own particular dynamics.
But it will not be wrong to say that the process has been steadily gathering momentum. The process of this differentiation has, however, yet to play itself out completely. This is only the first phase of class differentiation as it is only occurring within the confines of the ethnic groups.
The next phase has to be one where class is no more identified with race and identification with class takes precedence - but that is some way off yet. Only when this occurs can we say that there can be a class-based two-party system.
There are at least two more ‘acts' in this phase before the differentiation in this phase will be complete.
The first act is with the Muslim party of PAS. PAS has religion as its basic platform. Inasmuch as religion plays a major role for the Muslims in the party , economics is necessarily exerting an increasing influence on the party.
The separation of those who seek to control these resources exclusively and those who seek a more inclusive system seems to have begun and will have to play itself out sooner or later.
Even though religion is the glue for PAS, the tensions between that ‘glue' and the forces being unleashed by economics seem to be gathering momentum. What is happening now within PAS may be just that. Pakatan Rakyat and Umno, beware.
The second act is with the minority group of the Indians. Some 70% - 80 % of the Indians in the country are of the working class. The recent increase in political parties purporting to represent the Indian working class is an indication of the desire to tap this significant vote bank.
But who truly represents the interests of the Indian working class? If one surveys what has been going on, the answer has to be, no one clearly.
MIC has been totally abandoned by this group as a result of this differentiation. PKR and DAP are trying to step in, but the dissatisfaction with what they are able to do for the Indian working class (always qualified by the ‘we cannot just do it for a small group' argument) indicates a chasm between what the Indian working class seeks and what these parties are able to deliver.
This suggests that a clear, true working-class orientated representation is required for the Indians to complete this class-based differentiation across the Malaysian political scenario. MIC and Pakatan, beware.
These historical trends are driven by developments worldwide. They are also significantly accelerated by technological developments, especially in communication.
One can argue with the specifics of my argument, but one cannot dismiss that fact that there is something going on that is causing a differentiation to occur or even that a differentiation is occurring.
Umno with all its maneuvers can slow this process down a little, but it certainly cannot stop the realignments that are occurring in the progress of history in our country.
Take the major peninsula based political parties in the country - Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, PAS, PKR, DAP - look at the various indicators - their membership profiles, the substantial constituencies they represent, the overt and the not so overt policies they promote and their leadership profiles.
I have summarised them and I do not think I am too far away from the truth though there may be some disagreements about a few of my conclusions. But anyway, I use this as a starting point for my discussion.
Studying the structure of the political parties, it looks like class differentiation is occurring across the spectrum of these political parties.
The upper classes within the three major races are being represented by Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan combined while the PKR and DAP represent the middle and lower-income classes among the Malays and the Chinese.
PAS, however, seems to represent Muslims across all the classes and appears not to be class- based yet. PPP is too small to matter in this regard.
In my opinion, the class differentiation occurred with the Chinese first with DAP and MCA circa the 1950s . Then it started to happen with the Malays - beginning with Anwar Ibrahim's incarceration 1999.
In 2007, the class differentiation among the Indians abruptly showed itself. This process has not been linear or orchestrated - differentiation within each ethnic group was driven by its own particular dynamics.
But it will not be wrong to say that the process has been steadily gathering momentum. The process of this differentiation has, however, yet to play itself out completely. This is only the first phase of class differentiation as it is only occurring within the confines of the ethnic groups.
The next phase has to be one where class is no more identified with race and identification with class takes precedence - but that is some way off yet. Only when this occurs can we say that there can be a class-based two-party system.
There are at least two more ‘acts' in this phase before the differentiation in this phase will be complete.
The first act is with the Muslim party of PAS. PAS has religion as its basic platform. Inasmuch as religion plays a major role for the Muslims in the party , economics is necessarily exerting an increasing influence on the party.
The separation of those who seek to control these resources exclusively and those who seek a more inclusive system seems to have begun and will have to play itself out sooner or later.
Even though religion is the glue for PAS, the tensions between that ‘glue' and the forces being unleashed by economics seem to be gathering momentum. What is happening now within PAS may be just that. Pakatan Rakyat and Umno, beware.
The second act is with the minority group of the Indians. Some 70% - 80 % of the Indians in the country are of the working class. The recent increase in political parties purporting to represent the Indian working class is an indication of the desire to tap this significant vote bank.
But who truly represents the interests of the Indian working class? If one surveys what has been going on, the answer has to be, no one clearly.
MIC has been totally abandoned by this group as a result of this differentiation. PKR and DAP are trying to step in, but the dissatisfaction with what they are able to do for the Indian working class (always qualified by the ‘we cannot just do it for a small group' argument) indicates a chasm between what the Indian working class seeks and what these parties are able to deliver.
This suggests that a clear, true working-class orientated representation is required for the Indians to complete this class-based differentiation across the Malaysian political scenario. MIC and Pakatan, beware.
These historical trends are driven by developments worldwide. They are also significantly accelerated by technological developments, especially in communication.
One can argue with the specifics of my argument, but one cannot dismiss that fact that there is something going on that is causing a differentiation to occur or even that a differentiation is occurring.
Umno with all its maneuvers can slow this process down a little, but it certainly cannot stop the realignments that are occurring in the progress of history in our country.
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