Facilitating Sustainable Political Stability: Malaysia’s Experience

Abstract

For many post-colonial plural societies, nation building has been regarded as one of the most important tasks. Almost every country in Southeast Asia was faced with the problem of alienation of one or more ethnic group from the political system. This was the challenge of national integration. Malaysia is no exception. Immediately after the independence the prime challenge for the country’s leaders has been the elimination of primordial sentiments among the ethnic groups and turning the loyalties of sub-national groups into loyalty towards a nation state. This paper examines how Malaysia’s plural society was constructed, and how its ruling political elites especially UMNO and the National Front (BN), has been able to maintain the political hegemony while achieving political stability in a fragmented society over the last decades. It elaborates the model of regime maintenance that has been adopted and led to the emergence of a ‘grand political coalition’ among the ethnic leaders in the country. Finally, the research paper focuses mainly on the factors contributing to peace and sustainable political stability in Malaysia.