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242 Wong Chin Huat

multiethnic coalition left standing. A weak and unstable federal government
may then be susceptible to blackmail by its partners, resulting in an ill-planned
and politically expedient spree of decentralisation, possibly even threatening
the viability of Malaysia.
Second, while FPTP was instrumental in sustaining decades of stability
with some degree of inclusion under BN’s electoral authoritarianism, the same
structure may be detrimental for PH’s functioning in a multiparty democracy.
Under FPTP, coalition politics in Malaysia both disallows friendly competition
between coalition members and concentrates power among top leaders within
individual parties. Both tendencies can induce in ghting and implosion,
ironically more so if PH controls a strong majority, whether through election or
defection, leaving no external enemy to necessitate cohesion and compromise.
PH is disadvantaged not just by the absence of a hegemonic core like UMNO,
but also by the delicate relations among Prime Minister Mahathir, his heir-
apparent Anwar Ibrahim, and Anwar’s deputy in PKR, Azmin Ali. With
currently 50 parliamentarians, PKR has only seven ministers and seven deputy
ministers in Mahathir’s 50-member frontbench. In contrast, Bersatu secured
six ministerial and one deputy minister posts, despite initially winning only
13 seats (now doubled thanks to UMNO defections). Inter-party allocation of
both frontbench positions under the new prime minister and of constituencies
to contest in the next election will test inter-ally relations in PH, which might
be harder to settle through behind-closed-doors horse-trading than through
open competition on a level playing eld, via a mixed-member system. If
another battle-royal erupts, disillusioned Malaysians may look to fringe parties
or untested outsider politicians.
Granted, few Malaysians have thought about these questions. For exactly
this reason, it is pertinent to start a national conversation now.

Notes
1 Using the FPTP system, Malaya held its rst national election in 1955, two years
before independence. e 52 federal constituencies in 1959 were each halved in 1959,
to create 104 constituencies. ‘Malaya’ refers both to the federation prior to its merger
with Sabah, Sarawak, and (brie y) Singapore in 1963, and to the ‘States of Malaya’,
which includes the peninsular states and all Federal Territories (including Labuan,
o shore from Sabah).
2 e nesting of state within federal constituencies allows the use of the same electoral
rolls for both.
3 e original Article 116(3)-(5) stipulated:
(3) Constituencies shall be allocated to the several States in such manner that
the electoral quota of each state is as nearly equal to the electoral quota of the

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