1 February 2021
Author: Editorial Board, ANU
When Pakatan Harapan won the 2018 elections in Malaysia, it revealed what really underpinned the rule of the Barisan Nasional government that led Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy for 61 years since independence from Britain.
Certainly, an electoral system engineered to produce victories for the incumbent coalition, and widespread curbs on civil liberties and the press were part of the formula. But just as in non-communist regimes elsewhere in Southeast Asia, political despots or their hegemonic parties relied on support from business and many citizens who benefited from the spoils of the pre-Asian Financial Crisis boom.
All too often, economic rents came in the form of patronage for favoured companies, industries or social groups. But so long as there was enough patronage to go around, its beneficiaries became contributors to the political and social stability that in turn made Southeast Asia a magnet for investment.