‘A Culmination of Many Factors’: Opportunities, Arenas, and Challenges to Malaysia’s Dominant Regime

Abstract

The victory of the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in the 2018 Malaysian election was a political earthquake, as it saw the end of over 60 years of rule by the dominant Barisan Nasional (BN) regime. Victory for the coalition resulted from a number of factors, as opponents came together to craft a strategy that was able to overcome an extensive system of social control that the BN regime had built and reinforced during its time in power. The aim of the paper is to examine how civil society and political actors were able to craft a coalition that was sufficiently robust to challenge the dominant position of the BN regime. In doing so, the findings point to the role and impact of civil society in a context of weakening elite control. Drawing on interviews conducted with civil society actors shortly after the election, the paper identifies the key actors involved, how they formulated claims, and the importance of connecting the protest and electoral arenas to achieve their ends.