TOWARDS A FEDERALISM THAT SUITS MALAYSIA S DIVERSITY

This article seeks to draw attention to certain dynamics in Malaysian politics that have exhibited new relevance following the surprising results of the 12th General Election held on 8 March 2008. In identifying them as recurrent, the point is made that the seemingly novel conditions being experienced are, to a large extent, expressions of old fault lines that political constraints, in the form of legislation, suppression of discussions since 1970 and the personality-based conflicts of the Mahathir years have concealed. A proper understanding of these dynamics, in light of the apparently new scenario of the post-2008 period, thus requires a reconsideration of the political exigencies of the 1950s, when Malaya was being formed.