The Practice of Asian Democracy in Kelantan State, Malaysia, 1959–2013

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMER SAIFUDE GHAZALI ◽  
ABU HANIFAH HARIS ◽  
ZULKANAIN ABDUL RAHMAN

AbstractThe debates on Asian democracy began 30 years ago. Western countries have often promoted liberal democracy as being the genuine democracy, giving justice to the people and being able to meet the needs of their communities. However, at the same time, some Asian countries practice democracy that promotes Asian values, which are very different from Western values. Western countries describe Asian democracy as an excuse for some leaders to maintain power in their respective countries, for example Malaysia. Critics have pointed out that some Asian leaders have used authoritarianism or despotism in order to mitigate the weaknesses of their rule. Asian democracy is practiced in Kelantan where the PAS (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) continued to maintain power for 23 years, from 1990 to 2013. Factors that have contributed to the long rule of the PAS party include socio-political stability, including political parties who were clean and competent and leaders who are knowledgeable and pious.

F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Soban Qadir Khan ◽  
Imran Alam Moheet ◽  
Faraz Ahmed Farooqi ◽  
Muhanad Alhareky ◽  
Faisal Alonaizan

Background: The purpose of the study was to compare  trends in the progression of COVID-19 among South Asian countries with more developed Western countries. Methods: COVID-19 data from South Asian countries were used for this observational study. Data were taken up to April 21, 2020 from the outbreak of the COVID-19. Four of the seven countries met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Results: An exponential increase in the average number of weekly cases was reported after the fifth week following the first case. The correlation between reported cases and tests was found to be strong and significant (r=0.90, p=0.037). However, on average, 315.25 tests per million population were performed, which was at least 12 times lower than the number of tests performed in countries with a large number of COVID-19 cases. Conclusions: At present, the number of confirmed cases from South Asia was found to be significantly lower than in Western countries. Hence, an increase in the strength of performing diagnostic tests is highly recommended. Strict measures are required to make the people of these countries follow the instructions of social distancing and comply with preventive measures.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran Alam Moheet ◽  
Soban Qadir Khan ◽  
Faraz Ahmed Farooqi ◽  
Muhanad Alhareky ◽  
Faisal Alonaizan

Abstract Objective Purpose of the current study was to find the trend in progression of COVID-19 among South Asian countries as compared to more developed western countries. Method COVID-19 data of South Asian countries was taken for this observational study. Data was taken up to 21 st April since the outbreak of the virus. There were 4 out of 7 countries which passed through the inclusion criteria and included for analysis. Results Increase in average weekly reported cases after 5 th week since first case reported was exponential. Correlation between reported cases and tests performed was found strong and significant (r=0.90, p-value=0.037). However, on average 315.25 tests per million population was performed which was at least 12 times lower than the tests performed in the countries having large number of COVID-19 cases. Conclusion At present, number of reported cases from South Asia was found extrememly lower than western countries. However, it could be due to a smaller number of tests performed. Hence, increase in strength of performing diagnostic tests is highly recommended. Strict measures are required to be taken to make the people of these countries to follow the instructions of social distancing and comply with preventive measures.


Author(s):  
Sigit Sigit

<p>The aim of this study is to analyze Mahathir’s policy through a historical approach to the political developments and challenges in Malaysia. In addition, the author uses secondary data in order to collect several resources related to the topic. The comeback of Mahathir Mohammad, the Father of Malaysian modernization, in the Malaysian 14<sup>th</sup> general election after leaving the political stage for more than a decade draws many global eyes. As the great critics of the corruption and downturn of Malaysian economic conditions, he decided to run in Malaysia once again. During his previous administration, his mega-project named Pembangunan Putra Jaya and his famous foreign policy “Look East Policy” became a part of his identity. The “Look East Policy” was developed in order to increase domestic economic growth and because Malaysia needed to learn and adopt cultural features from Japan and Korea, such as discipline and hard work. Through this policy, Malaysia began cooperating with East countries (Japan and Korea). In addition, Mahathir had been opposing Western values and deemed them incompatible with Asia. The West considers Mahathir to be an obstacle in uniting Western and Asian countries following the emergence of Asian values since the 1990s. Overall, this study suggests that Mahathir is only focused on his country’s national interest and sovereignty and maintaining Malaysia’s international standing.</p><p><strong>Bahasa Indonesia Abstract</strong>: Tujuan <em>paper</em> ini adalah untuk menganalisis kebijakan Mahathir melalui perspektif sejarah terhadap perkembangan politik dan tantangan di Malaysia. Selain itu, Penulis menggunakan data sekunder untuk mengumpulkan berbagai literatur terkait dengan topik tersebut. Kembalinya Mahathir Muhammad, Bapak Modernisasi Malaysia, dalam Pemilihan Umum ke-14 setelah meninggalkan panggung politik lebih dari satu dekade telah menarik perhatian masyarakat global. Sebagai kritikus pada korupsi dan kemunduran ekonomi Malaysia, dia memutuskan untuk maju dalam pemilihan umum sekali lagi. Selama pemerintahan sebelumnya, Mahathir dengan proyek megah yaitu Pembangunan Putra Jaya dan kebijakan luar negerinya, terkenal dengan  <em>“Look East Policy”</em> menjadi bagian dari identitasnya.  Kebijakan <em>“Look East</em><em> Policy</em><em>”</em> dikembangkan untuk meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi domestik dan karena Malaysia perlu belajar dan mengadopsi budaya dari Jepang dan Korea, seperti kedisiplinan dan kerja keras. Melalui Kebijakan tersebut, Malaysia telah melakukan kerjasama dengan negara Timur (Jepang dan Korea). Selain itu, Mahathir menolak penerapan nilai-nilai Barat dan menganggap bahwa nilai Barat tidak sesuai dengan Asia. Negara-negara Barat menganggap Mahathir sebagai penghalang persatuan negara Barat dengan negara Asia sejak berkembangnya paham <em>“Asian Values”</em> pada tahun 1990an. Secara Keseluruhan, <em>paper</em> ini berpendapat bahwa Mahathir hanya fokus kepada kepentingan dan kedaulatan negaranya dan menjaga eksistensi Malaysia di dunia internasional.</p><p> </p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Otto Gusti Madung

<b>Abstract:</b> Populism generally expresses the conflict between the majority of the people who are “out of power” versus the powerful small elites. The competition is the response to the perpetuating social divisiveness between the small elites and the marginalized majority. Hence, populism can be described as a social and political protest of the citizens against the failures of elitically and pro establishment oriented representative democracy. In this case, the democracy tends to leave the people behind who are the primary goal of the the democracy itself. This essay tries to pose some criticism against the practices of the liberal democracy tranformed into a consensus machine and in this way ignores the dissensual or conflictual aspect of the democracy. The dissensus democracy emphasizes the unlimited conflictual dimension of the democratic discourse. From the point of view of the dissensual democracy, populism can appear as social transformative forces that bring back the democracy to its original meaning as an expression of the people’s sovereignity. However, this can only be realized in a pluralistic millieu and populism can be transformed into an antagonistic democracy. Finally, the essay argues that the practices of populisme in Indonesia fail to be an alternative and antagonistic power to the practices of the Indonesian democracy coopted by the predatory oligarchy. The reason is that the populistic leaders in Indonesia including the Jokowi regime fail to transform the populistic ideas into the new democratic institutions independent from the domination of the oligarchic political parties inherited by the New Order regime. <b>Keywords:</b> Populism, Democracy, Antagonism, Dissensus, Indonesia <b>Abstrak:</b> Secara umum populisme mengungkapkan pertentangan antara rakyat kebanyakan (the people) yang tidak berkuasa versus segelintir kecil elite yang berkuasa. Pertarungan tersebut merupakan tanggapan atas persoalan kesenjangan sosial berkepanjangan antara elite penguasa versus mayoritas masyarakat yang berada di luar kekuasaan. Oleh karena itu, populisme dapat diartikan sebagai ekspresi protes warga masyarakat terhadap sejumlah kegagalan demokrasi representatif yang cenderung elitis dan pro establishment dan melupakan masyarakat umum yang menjadi tujuan awal dari demokrasi. Di dalam artikel ini dikemukakan sejumlah kritik terhadap praktik demokrasi liberal yang sudah bertransformasi menjadi mesin konsensus dan mengabaikan aspek disensus. Demokrasi disensus menekankan aspek pertentangan yang tak terselesaikan secara argumentatif dalam proses demokrasi. Dalam kaca mata demokrasi disensus, populisme dapat tampil sebagai kekuatan transformatif dan mengembalikan makna demokrasi kepada kedaulatan rakyat yang sesungguhnya. Namun, untuk maksud itu, populisme harus menanggalkan corak antipluralisme dan menjadi demokrasi antagonistis. Pada bagian akhir tulisan ini diuraikan juga bahwa di Indonesia politik populisme gagal menjadi kekuatan antagonistik dan emansipatoris terhadap demokrasi yang terkooptasi kekuatan oligarkis. Alasannya, para pemimpin populis termasuk rezim Jokowi gagal menginstitusionalisasikan ide-ide populis dalam institusi demokratis baru yang terlepas dan bebas dari cengkeraman partai-partai politik oligarkis warisan Orde Baru. <b>Kata-kata Kunci:</b> Populisme, Demokrasi, Antagonsme, Disensus, Indonesia


F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Soban Qadir Khan ◽  
Imran Alam Moheet ◽  
Faraz Ahmed Farooqi ◽  
Muhanad Alhareky ◽  
Faisal Alonaizan

Background: The purpose of the study was to compare  trends in the progression of COVID-19 among South Asian countries with more developed Western countries. Methods: COVID-19 data from South Asian countries were used for this observational study. Data were taken up to April 21, 2020 from the outbreak of the COVID-19. Four of the seven countries met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Results: An exponential increase in the average number of weekly cases was reported after the fifth week following the first case. The correlation between reported cases and tests was found to be strong and significant (r=0.90, p=0.037). However, on average, 315.25 tests per million population were performed, which was at least 12 times lower than the number of tests performed in countries with a large number of COVID-19 cases. Conclusions: At present, the number of confirmed cases from South Asia was found to be significantly lower than in Western countries. However, this could be due to the smaller number of tests performed. Hence, an increase in the strength of performing diagnostic tests is highly recommended. Strict measures are required to make the people of these countries follow the instructions of social distancing and comply with preventive measures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Muhammad Bahrul Ulum ◽  
Nilna Aliyan Hamida

This paper aims to examine the complex and often contentious relationship between constitutionalism and integralism in the Indonesian government and provides a criticism of democratization within the contemporary state. Integralist state portrays the relationship between the state and the people as analogous to a family, with the state as a father and the people as children (the Family Principle). Those that adhere to this view, with regard to contemporary Asian politics, claim that Asian values are inherently integralist, that Asia’s particular history and values different considerably from the West’s, and that Pancasila, Indonesia’s state philosophy, is utilized to establish romanticized relations between the ruler and the ruled. The data presented in this paper was collected from relevant articles on Indonesian democracy and Asian values. It also demonstrates how Pancasila, as Indonesia’s core guiding philosophy, has influenced debates over how the constitutional should be applied and interpreted. As the research shows, during the regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, Pancasila was manipulated in order to promote the goals of the state, and that a reliance on integralism during Indonesia’s founding years severely diminished human rights and Indonesia’s capacity for an efficient democracy. By continually putting the priorities of the state above those of the people, the Indonesian government has contradicted its adoption of human rights and liberal democracy is often challenged by the spirit of integralism.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soban Qadir Khan ◽  
Imran Alam Moheet ◽  
Faraz Ahmed Farooqi ◽  
Muhanad Alhareky ◽  
Faisal Alonaizan

Abstract Objective Purpose of the current study was to find the trend in progression of COVID-19 among South Asian countries as compared to more developed western countries. Method COVID-19 data of South Asian countries was taken for this observational study. Data was taken up to 21 st April since the outbreak of the virus. There were 4 out of 7 countries which passed through the inclusion criteria and included for analysis. Results Increase in average weekly reported cases after 5 th week since first case reported was exponential. Correlation between reported cases and tests performed was found strong and significant (r=0.90, p-value=0.037). However, on average 315.25 tests per million population was performed which was at least 12 times lower than the tests performed in the countries having large number of COVID-19 cases. Conclusion At present, number of reported cases from South Asia was found extrememly lower than western countries. However, it could be due to a smaller number of tests performed. Hence, increase in strength of performing diagnostic tests is highly recommended. Strict measures are required to be taken to make the people of these countries to follow the instructions of social distancing and comply with preventive measures.


Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Schupmann

Chapter 1 analyzes Schmitt’s assessment of democratic movements in Weimar and the gravity of their effects on the state and constitution. It emphasizes that the focus of Schmitt’s criticism of Weimar was mass democracy rather than liberalism. Schmitt warned that the combination of mass democracy, the interpenetration of state and society, and the emergence of total movements opposed to liberal democracy, namely the Nazis and the Communists, were destabilizing the Weimar state and constitution. Weimar, Schmitt argued, had been designed according to nineteenth century principles of legitimacy and understandings of the people. Under the pressure of mass democracy, the state was buckling and cannibalizing itself and its constitution. Despite this, Schmitt argued, Weimar jurists’ theoretical commitments left them largely unable to recognize the scope of what was occurring. Schmitt’s criticism of Weimar democracy was intended to raise awareness of how parliamentary democracy could be turned against the state and constitution.


Author(s):  
Takis S. Pappas

Based on an original definition of modern populism as “democratic illiberalism” and many years of meticulous research, Takis Pappas marshals extraordinary empirical evidence from Argentina, Greece, Peru, Italy, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, the United States, Spain, and Brazil to develop a comprehensive theory about populism. He addresses all key issues in the debate about populism and answers significant questions of great relevance for today’s liberal democracy, including: • What is modern populism and how can it be differentiated from comparable phenomena like nativism and autocracy? • Where in Latin America has populism become most successful? Where in Europe did it emerge first? Why did its rise to power in the United States come so late? • Is Trump a populist and, if so, could he be compared best with Venezuela’s Chávez, France’s Le Pens, or Turkey’s Erdoğan? • Why has populism thrived in post-authoritarian Greece but not in Spain? And why in Argentina and not in Brazil? • Can populism ever succeed without a charismatic leader? If not, what does leadership tell us about how to challenge populism? • Who are “the people” who vote for populist parties, how are these “made” into a group, and what is in their minds? • Is there a “populist blueprint” that all populists use when in power? And what are the long-term consequences of populist rule? • What does the expansion, and possibly solidification, of populism mean for the very nature and future of contemporary democracy? Populism and Liberal Democracy will change the ways the reader understands populism and imagines the prospects of liberal democracy.


Author(s):  
Caroline Fleay

Throughout the past forty years various leaders from both major political parties in Australia have categorized the arrival by boat of people seeking asylum as a “crisis” and the people themselves as “illegal.” This is despite Australia being a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and receiving relatively few people who seek asylum compared with many other countries. Punitive government policies and processes have further reinforced these representations, such that “crisis” and “illegal” can now be understood as both categories of analysis and practice. The repeated use of such categories may be helping to produce and reproduce prejudice and racism and obscure the needs and experiences of people seeking asylum.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document