Asia Times: Media become Malaysia's political battlefield



	July 15, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Media become Malaysia's political battlefield
By Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia - The media are becoming an earlybattlefield in the fight between Malaysia's ruling coalition andthe opposition ahead of the country's looming general election.

Already, the opposition realizes it will have to contend notonly with the powerful machinery of the government of PrimeMinister Mahathir Mohamad, but the might of state agencies in therun-up to the poll expected in the next three months.

The first salvo was fired on July 2, when newly appointedInformation Minister Khalil Yaacob announced that the politicalopposition would not be allowed to use state-run Radio TelevisionMalaysia to air its agendas. Private television stations could decide for themselves,added Khalil.

In reality, the opposition stands little chance of gettingequal air time, because the private stations aremainly entertainment-based and owned by companies beholden to thegovernment for their broadcasting licenses.

As in previous election campaigns, the ruling Barisan Nasionalcoalition - dominated by Mahathir's United Malays NationalOrganization (UMNO) - is likely to fully exploit the government'stight control of the various media to run down the opposition andretain its commanding majority in Parliament.

But unlike previous campaigns, when the opposition was giventoken campaign air time on radio, this time the blackout overthe electronic media is official and apparently total.

This may well reflect how crucial this election is in the view ofMahathir's coalition. The poll will be its toughest test, given public discontent over the premier's dismissal of hisdeputy, Anwar Ibrahim, last year.

Anwar is serving a six-year term for corruption, but theepisode stoked a ''reformasi'' campaign for greater politicalfreedoms in a country that has seen little open dissent againstthe government in the last decade.

The announcement barring opposition access to state-runtelevision stunned opposition politicians and activists for itssheer audacity. ''RTM is a government agency and only thegovernment has the right to the air-time,'' Khalil said injustifying the move.

Critics, however, say there is a difference between the statecharacter of RTM and control or ownership by the ruling coalition.Likewise, they say RTM is funded by television license fees andtaxes that ordinary Malaysians, including opposition supporters,pay to the government. RTM is public property and should serve the public interest,they say.

''There is this inability to distinguish between the propertyof the state and party property and this can lead to abuse ofpower,'' says media analyst Mustafa Anuar. ''Khalil's announcementis a classic example of this inability or refusal to make thisdistinction."

The announced restrictions are a severe handicap for theopposition, which is already denied meaningful space in the mainnewspapers, almost all of which are either controlled by BarisanNasional component parties or firms linked to it.

The only lifeline for the opposition is Harakah, the Malay-English party organ of the opposition Islamic Party PAS,whose sales have soared since Mahathir's sacking of Anwar. Other new Malay language papers such as Eksklusif andsections of the Chinese Malaysian press also provide theopposition with some space.

But whatever space the opposition gets from print is insignificant comparedwith the wide reach of television and radio.

The Barisan Nasional - along with its forerunner, the Alliance -has been in power since independence in 1957. To many, this hasled to a notion that state agencies are there to do thecoalition's bidding during campaign time. Indeed, the media often resemble party organs of theruling coalition during election campaigns.

''If there are any criticisms or comments made by oppositionleaders, we normally get only the response from governmentleaders. What is given prominence are the views of the leadershipof the ruling coalition,'' says Mustafa.

He adds that opposition leaders are denied the opportunity torespond to government criticism. ''Given this scenario, would youblame the opposition leaders for getting an airing in the foreignmedia?'' he asks.

Come election time, the media also usually play up communalviews to scare voters with the possibility of unrest orinstability should the opposition do well. Another tactic that has been used by mainstream media totelling effect is to play up an insignificant incident portrayingthe opposition in an extremely bad light just a couple of daysbefore polling, and to give it saturation coverage.

Given the little time left before polling, the opposition,denied access to the powerful electronic media and relying onpublic rallies, has little chance of rebutting such reports.

This happened during the 1990 election campaign, when thenopposition politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was depicted asselling out Muslim interests to Christians merely because he wasphotographed wearing ethnic Kadazan cultural headgear on whichwas a symbol resembling a cross. The photograph was splashed in the media and Razaleigh hadlittle chance to counter the allegations. It cost his party, whichhas since been dissolved, dearly on polling day.

Today, however, the Internet has allowed government critics toput up a stronger fight against the Barisan Nasional's dominanceof local media.

A host of ''reformasi'' and dissenting web sites has sprung up,with active and frank debates and discussions of political issues.Malaysia has close to one million Internet users in a populationof 22 million, but its reach is limited to the computer-literatemiddle class.

In the months leading up to Malaysia's awaited election, voterswill be watching how traditional mediaand pro-government newspapers and alternative media join the fray.

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.

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