As an indirect result of the striking of UMNO as an unlawful society and the confrontation between the government and the judiciary, a judicial crisis sparked off later that year. The then Lord President, Tun Salleh Abbas was sacked and several high court judges were transferred to other divisions. This brought a wrath of criticism against Mahathir as it was seen that the judiciary was no longer an independent institution as enshrined in the constitution but became part of the government machinery.
The “End of the Decade” Curse
Iqbal Abd Ghaffar
Have you ever noticed that once in every decade, specifically during its second half, Malaysia is faced either with a major crisis or event? Since its formal inception as the the Federated States of Malaya in 1948, this country is witness to seven major events that had made a deep impact to the nation’s history.
Let’s take a brief walk down memory lane…
In 1948, the Federation of Malaya was formed after strong opposition by UMNO and the Malays against the Malayan Union implemented by the British from 1946 – 1948. The Malays were opposed to the Malayan Union state as it rendered their Kings and Sultans powerless, threatened Islam, and threatened their existence as the awarding of citizenship to migrants on a jus-soli basis will dwarf their population. Furthermore, the Malays questioned the loyalty of the migrants as they were allowed to hold dual citizenship.
In 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained independence from the British peacefully, after the tripartite communal based parties of UMNO-MCA-MIC succesfully showed that they could work together amicably to govern a multiracial Malaya.
In 1969, racial riots broke out after the Alliance Party lost its two-thirds majority and formed the government with a simple majority. A political crisis loomed, and the country was under emergency rule. The Alliance Party was then re-branded as Barisan Nasional and had accepted many opposition parties into its wing forming a new coalition.
The 1976, second PM Tun Abdul Razak dies. Tun Hussein Onn takes premiership as third PM of Malaysia.
In 1987/88 several prominent events took place that had a strong bearing on Malaysia’s political landscape.
In 1987, Ops Lalang saw the infamous arrest of 106 persons under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the revoking of the publishing licenses of two dailies and two weeklies.
In 1988 UMNO was declared an unlawful society due to the existence of several unregistered branches — an illegal act under the Societies Act of 1966. This was due to the irregularity of unregistered UMNO branches taking part in the UMNO central committee election in 1987. Mahathir led the formation of UMNO Baru and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who lost the party president elections formed Semangat 46.
As an indirect result of the striking of UMNO as an unlawful society and the confrontation between the government and the judiciary, a judicial crisis sparked off later that year. The then Lord President, Tun Salleh Abbas was sacked and several high court judges were transferred to other divisions. This brought a wrath of criticism against Mahathir as it was seen that the judiciary was no longer an independent institution as enshrined in the constitution but became part of the government machinery.
In 1997/98, Malaysia was facing its worst economic crisis after 10 years of stunning growth. Many Asian tigers crumbled under this problem and resorted to bail from the IMF.
The financial crisis also had indirectly increased tensions between Anwar and his political mentor Dr. Mahathir over economic policies and Anwar’s close ties with the US and IMF. Mahathir sacked the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister accusing him of immoral sexual conduct and corruption that lead to his imprisonment in 1998.
End of Part I
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