Parti Keadilan Rakyat
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People's Justice Party
Parti KeADILan Rakyat |
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| Leader | Wan Azizah Wan Ismail |
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| Founded | April 4, 1999 |
| Headquarters | Petaling Jaya, Malaysia |
| Youth wing | Angkatan Muda KeADILan Malaysia |
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| Ideology | Social Justice, Progressive |
| National affiliation | Pakatan Rakyat |
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| Website http://www.keadilanrakyat.org/ |
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- This article is about the People's Justice Party of Malaysia. For the British political party of the same name, see People's Justice Party (UK).
The People's Justice Party (Malay: Parti Keadilan Rakyat, often known simply as Keadilan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. Keadilan was led by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and increased its parliamentary representation from 1 seat to 31 seats in the Malaysian general election, 2008 until the five-year political ban imposed on former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was lifted on April 14, 2008.
Keadilan promotes an agenda with a strong social justice and anti-corruption emphasis. Recently the party adopted a platform that seeks to abolish the New Economic Policy and replace it with a policy that emphasises on a non-ethnic approach in poverty eradication and correcting economic imbalances.
[edit] History
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[edit] The early years
1997 saw the economy of Malaysia affected by what is now known as the Asian Economic Crisis. The Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim (also Deputy Prime Minister), instituted a series of economic reforms and austerity measures in response. These actions were exacerbated when he tabled controversial amendments to the Anti Corruption Act that sought to increase the powers of the Anti Corruption Agency [1]. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad disagreed with these measures and ultimately sacked Anwar from all his posts [2].
This incident and the circumstances in which it happened led to a public outcry in what became known as the Reformasi movement but it also resulted in the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Anwar on what many believe to be politically motivated charges of sexual misconduct and corruption [3].
Building on the momentum of the Reformasi movement, a political movement was formed as Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party in English) by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of Anwar Ibrahim, on 4 April 1999. The party was joined by the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the Malaysian People's Party (PRM) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in a broad based electoral alliance known as Barisan Alternatif (Alternative Front) to take on the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition in the 1999 general elections.
[edit] Arrests
Between September 27 and 30, 1999, seven activists, including Keadilan leaders; Vice-President Tian Chua, Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Mohamed Azmin Ali, Fairus Izuddin and Dr Badrul Amin Baharun; were arrested and as a result prevented from contesting in the elections [4]. Further arrests were made on 10 April 2001 and those arrested were subsequently charged and incarcerated under the Internal Security Act [5]. They became known as the Reformasi 10 [6].
[edit] 1999 general elections
The party entered the campaign with many of its key leaders under arrest and as a result saw it winning only five parliamentary seats in the elections despite gaining 11.67% of the total votes cast. The Barisan Alternatif as a whole gained 40.21% of the total votes cast with PAS gaining 27 seats and DAP gaining ten seats.
[edit] Merger with Parti Rakyat Malaysia
The post election period saw negotiations between Keadilan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) on a possible merger [7]. Despite some opposition in both parties to the move [8] [9], a 13 point Memorandum of Understanding was eventually signed by the two parties on 5 July 2002 [10].
On 3 August 2003, the new merged entity was officially launched and assumed its current name [11].
[edit] 2004 general elections
As the new amendments to the party constitution had yet to be approved by the Registrar of Societies, candidates from PRM contested the 2004 General Elections using the symbol of the old National Justice Party [12].
The party fared poorly in the elections and only managed to defend one parliamentary seat, despite winning 9% of the popular vote. The poor showing was later attributed to malapportionment and gerrymandering in the delineation of constituencies, with one estimate suggesting that on average, a vote for the Barisan Nasional government was worth 28 times the vote of a Keadilan supporter[13].
[edit] Anwar Ibrahim freed
On 2 September 2004, in a decision by the Federal Court, Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy conviction was overturned and he was freed. This unexpected turn of events came timely for Keadilan which was facing flagging morale due to its dismal performance in the elections.
[edit] Current developments
In December 2005 Keadilan organised its second national congress [14]. Among the motions passed was the New Economic Agenda[15] that envisioned a non-racial economic policy to replace the race-based New Economic Policy.
Keadilan managed a breakthrough into Sarawak politics in May 2006. In Sarawak state elections, Dominique Ng, a lawyer and activist, won in the Padungan constituency in Kuching, a majority Chinese locale. Keadilan lost narrowly in Saribas, a Malay-Melanau constituency by just 94 votes. Sarawak is a traditional Barisan Nasional stronghold.
Keadilan has also pursued an aggressive strategy of getting key personalities from within and outside politics. In July 2006, Khalid Ibrahim, former CEO of Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Guthrie (Malaysia), was appointed as Treasurer of the Keadilan. K.S. Nallakarupan, a former Malaysian Indian Congress Youth, and Jeffrey Kitingan, a popular Kadazan politician and brother of Joseph Pairin Kitingan, president of the Barisan Nasional-aligned Parti Bersatu Sabah, have also recently joined the party.
[edit] 2008 General Elections
In the 2008 elections, Keadilan won 31 seats in Parliament, with DAP and PAS making substantial gains as well with 28 seats and 23 seats respectively. In total, the taking of 82 seats by the opposition to Barisan Nasional's 140 seats, makes it the best performance in Malaysian history by the opposition, and denies Barisan Nasional the two-thirds majority required to make constitutional changes in the Dewan Rakyat.
Keadilan also successfully contested the state legislative elections which saw the loose coalition of Keadilan, DAP and PAS forming coalition governments in the states of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. The offices of the Menteri Besar of Selangor and the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang are held by Keadilan elected representatives, Khalid Ibrahim and Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, respectively.
[edit] Pakatan Rakyat
The leaders of PKR, DAP and PAS have proposed to consolidate their cooperation by forming Pakatan Rakyat. Pakatan Rakyat is to be led collectively by the three parties, would uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians. The state governments of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor will also be known as Pakatan Rakyat state governments. Together the three parties also won 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats at stake during the recent general elections.
[edit] PKR Members of the 12th Parliament of Malaysia
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[edit] Anwar's return to politics
On April 14, 2008, Anwar celebrated his official return to the political stage, as his ban from public office expires a decade after he was sacked as deputy prime minister. One of the main reasons the opposition seized a third of parliamentary seats and five states in the worst ever showing for the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled for half a century, was due to him leading at the helm.[16] A gathering of more than 10,000 supporters greeted Anwar in a rally welcoming back his return to politics. In the midst of the rally, police interrupted Anwar after he had addressed the rally for nearly half an hour and forced him to stop the gathering.[17]
[edit] Ideology
Keadilan's constitution has as one of her core principles [18], the establishment of "a society that is just and a nation that is democratic, progressive and united". In practice, the party has primarily focused on promoting social justice [19], economic justice [20] [21], eliminating political corruption [22] and human rights issues [23] within a non-ethnic framework.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Lim Kit Siang : [1]
- ^ Garry Rodan, Fellow, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, Australia Transparency, Asian Economic Crisis and the Prospects of Media Liberalisation
- ^ Amnesty International The arrest of Anwar Ibrahim and his political associates
- ^ Aliran : The Rakyat have Awakened and They want Justice
- ^ Amnesty Internation : Malaysia: Fear of torture or ill-treatment / incommunicado detention / prisoners of conscience
- ^ Human Rights Watch : The Anwar Case and the Reformasi 10
- ^ Kyodo News Internation : Anwar's party sees future in merger with socialists
- ^ Malaysiakini : PRM votes to dissolve, merge with Keadilan
- ^ Malaysiakini : Abim faction’s opposition to Keadilan-PRM merger plan triggers party split
- ^ Malaysiakini : Leadership transition details included in Keadilan, PRM merger MoU
- ^ Malaysiakini : PKR launched, promises to be truly multi-racial
- ^ Malaysiakini PRM to contest elections under ally's symbol
- ^ Surin, Jacqueline Ann (Jan. 22, 2007). German electoral system more democratic. The Sun.
- ^ Malaysia Today : "keADILan akan adakan kongres kedua"
- ^ Anwar Ibrahim : New Economic Agenda
- ^ "Malaysian opposition leader Anwar marks end of political ban" April 14, 2008, AFP
- ^ "Malaysia Police Halt Anwar Speech" April 14, 2008, AFP
- ^ PKR : Core Principles
- ^ PKR : KeADILan questions progress of gender equality
- ^ PKR : Fair share of oil revenue for Sabah: Jeffrey
- ^ The Sun : Time for a non-race based agenda
- ^ PKR : Education Expenditure & Contracts
- ^ PKR (AP) : Malaysian opposition politician arrested at protest over village demolition
[edit] External links
- Parti Keadilan Rakyat Malay website
- Parti Keadilan Rakyat Sarawak Site (English/Chinese/Malay)
