SHAH ALAM - Malaysia's race base politics are likely to gain traction in the 15th general elections but an analyst says the country is headed towards the wrong direction as focus remains on short term gains and issues instead of meaningful reforms.
Merdeka Centre programme director Ibrahim Suffian said politicians should stop using identity politics to garner support as Malaysia remains a multi-cultural society.
"Given the diversity of the country, politicians should be moderate in throughts and action to gain support but unfortunately many choose to use identity politics to win votes,” he told Sinar Daily.
Asked if the country is heading towards becoming Malay and Islamic centric, Ibrahim said Malay politics will likely dominant the narrative to win majority votes with underlying narrative over race.
He urged politicians to look at issues such as cost of living to serve the nation better.
"As a country, however, I think we are headed in the wrong direction because the focus is on short term problems. This takes away attention from real reforms that need to be done to improve the education system, governance and future affirmative action policies,” he said.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Deputy Director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies Associate Professor Dr Kartini Aboo Talib said race base politics remain dominant in Malaysia but work together through coalitions to represent each race in the country.
"Although DAP, PKR or PAS has opened their membership to all but the nature of race-based politics remains. DAP is still dominated by the Chinese, PKR by the Malays, PAS by the Malays.
"To remain in power, they have to form a coalition and share power. The shape of Malaysian politics is about power sharing,” she told Sinar Daily.
Kartini added there are two types of majority.
"Malays and Bumuputra are majority in terms of population but the economic majority is conquered by the minority Chinese.
"So, the majority of population is weak economically. We have to work and live together through interdependency to ensure the state of the political economy is in equilibrium," she added.
For Malaysia to move forward, she said it has to look at "unity in diversity" with focus on shared prosperity.
Merdeka Centre programme director Ibrahim Suffian said politicians should stop using identity politics to garner support as Malaysia remains a multi-cultural society.
"Given the diversity of the country, politicians should be moderate in throughts and action to gain support but unfortunately many choose to use identity politics to win votes,” he told Sinar Daily.
Asked if the country is heading towards becoming Malay and Islamic centric, Ibrahim said Malay politics will likely dominant the narrative to win majority votes with underlying narrative over race.
He urged politicians to look at issues such as cost of living to serve the nation better.
"As a country, however, I think we are headed in the wrong direction because the focus is on short term problems. This takes away attention from real reforms that need to be done to improve the education system, governance and future affirmative action policies,” he said.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Deputy Director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies Associate Professor Dr Kartini Aboo Talib said race base politics remain dominant in Malaysia but work together through coalitions to represent each race in the country.
"Although DAP, PKR or PAS has opened their membership to all but the nature of race-based politics remains. DAP is still dominated by the Chinese, PKR by the Malays, PAS by the Malays.
"To remain in power, they have to form a coalition and share power. The shape of Malaysian politics is about power sharing,” she told Sinar Daily.
Kartini added there are two types of majority.
"Malays and Bumuputra are majority in terms of population but the economic majority is conquered by the minority Chinese.
"So, the majority of population is weak economically. We have to work and live together through interdependency to ensure the state of the political economy is in equilibrium," she added.
For Malaysia to move forward, she said it has to look at "unity in diversity" with focus on shared prosperity.