Media

2018/2, 8 January 2018

On 7 January, Malaysia’s opposition coalition, PH (Pact of Hope) held its first ever convention. Attendees include delegates from four political parties: Amanah (National Trust Party), DAP (Democratic Action Party), PKR (People’s Justice Party) and PBBM (Malaysian United Indigenous Party). The meeting is an important milestone for the opposition for a number of reasons. First, never before in the Malaysia’s political history has the opposition showed this level of unity. Past coalitions were weak ideologically and mired with infighting. Second, in an unprecedented move, the four parties settled on seat allocation for the elections. According to Saifuddin Abdullah, PH’s Chief Secretary, the seat allocation are as follows: Amanah (27 seats); DAP (35 seats), PBBM (52 seats); and PKR (51 seats). Although the agreement only refers to seats in the Peninsula, the opposition’s ability to settle this before the elections is commendable because it will prevent any overlapping claims or misunderstandings during the campaigning period. At the convention, PH also announced its candidates for Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister: Mahathir Mohamed for the former and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the latter. The move is a sign that PH is targeting Malay and rural voters— which remain ruling BN’s (National Front) stronghold—on top of its traditional urban and non-Malay voters.

2018/1, 5 January 2018

While the United States and other Western democracies are discussing the feasibility of imposing targeted sanctions on Myanmar over the Rohingya issue, China is quietly working on further broadening and deepening its cooperation with Myanmar.  A flurry of recent bilateral visits back and forth illustrate China’s moves to shape the trajectory of its relations with Myanmar.