Trial Underscores Malaysians' Division : Split Over Islamicization
International Herald Tribune
August 9, 2000
Thomas Fuller

The trial of Anwar Ibrahim that ended Tuesday was widely interpreted as a clash between the two most powerful political personalities in Malaysia, a bitter public battle between Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, Asia's longest-serving leader, and his ambitious former deputy, Mr. Anwar.

But beneath this personality clash are turbulent social forces in Malaysia that analysts say will dominate political life well after the sting of Mr. Anwar's new jail term is gone.

The dismissal of Mr. Anwar two years ago as deputy prime minister has accelerated the Islamicization of Malaysian politics, a process that could have significant implications in a region already struggling with religious strife.

The trial has left Malaysia, once a beacon of political stability in Southeast Asia, with an electorate deeply divided along religious lines — between Muslims pushing to transform Malaysia into an Islamic state and Muslims who wish to continue Malaysia's tradition of secular, Western-modeled government.

It remains an irony of Malaysian politics that conservative Islamic forces in the country have won support in the past two years by aligning themselves with a man accused of — and on Tuesday, convicted of — sodomy. But among Islamicists, Mr. Anwar is seen as someone wrongly and cruelly dismissed by a prime minister who critics say is dismantling the country's democratic institutions piece by piece.

Mr. Anwar was convicted and sentenced Tuesday inside a heavily guarded courthouse in central Kuala Lumpur.

But well to the north of the capital, there was a less reported corollary to Mr. Anwar's trial: 29 members of an Islamic cult were charged with "waging war or attempting to wage war" against Malaysia's king, a capital offense. Last month, cult members took four hostages after raiding an army depot and stealing rocket launchers and more than 100 assault weapons. The group tortured and killed two non-Muslim hostages before being arrested by security forces.

Although there is no reason to believe the cult has any connection with Mr. Anwar, the group was founded during the period of political turmoil that followed his dismissal from government.

Pro-government newspapers have attempted to link the theft of the weapons and the killing of the hostages to the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, the chief proponent of Islamicization in Malaysia. Mr. Mahathir has said the cult's actions were inspired by the party's "hate campaign" against the government.

"What is occurring in Malaysian politics is very, very dangerous," wrote Abdullah Ahmad, a New Straits Times editor. "Our multiracial and moderate values and lifestyles are now under siege."

Mr. Abdullah's comments might seem overblown to anyone who has traveled through Malaysia's modern and prosperous cities. But such comments are interpreted by many as a measure of the government's alarm that it is losing support — especially among young voters — to the Islamic opposition.

In the past two years Mr. Anwar's trial has played a significant role in lifting the fortunes of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party — and stripping support from the government.

While he was still in government, Mr. Anwar's background as a student activist fighting for Muslim causes helped bridge differences between the government and Muslim groups. His dismissal two years ago destroyed that link. In hindsight, Mr. Anwar's firing appears to have been a serious political miscalculation by the normally politically savvy Mr. Mahathir.

The prime minister is not in danger of losing power soon, but Islamicist forces are slowing eroding his party's base. He recently said his party now operated in a "hostile environment."

The trend toward a more conservative Islam in Malaysia did not begin with Mr. Anwar's trial. Muslim women began dressing more conservatively in the late 1970s, and laws against gambling and the free mixing of unmarried Muslim couples have come into force since then.

Since the Anwar ordeal began, however, the Islamicization movement has become more high-profile and overt, especially when it comes to the implementation of Islamic laws.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party has more than tripled the number of seats it controls in Parliament. The party's ultimate goal is the establishment of an Islamic state in Malaysia.

A private survey of 500 university students conducted late last year showed support for the Islamic party at about 40 percent, on a par with Mr. Mahathir's party, which has governed Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957. At the University of Malaya, the elite university in Kuala Lumpur, support for the ruling party was significantly lower.

Students were also asked how they identified themselves.

"They uniformly said religion," said a source who has seen the report, which is being prepared for the government.

Zainah Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam, a human rights group, said increased support for the Muslim opposition was both a protest against an increasingly paternalistic government and a reaction to the dislocation following the migration of Malaysian Muslims from rural areas to cities.

"We're not ready to cope with the challenges of modernity," Mrs. Zainah said, "so we retreat to religion. There's a sense of certainty in religion. The answers are in black and white. We don't have to search for solutions."

The government has reacted to increased support for the Islamic party with sledgehammer tactics, attempting to shut off the party's financing and communication.

The government ordered the party's popular newspaper to publish only twice a month instead of twice a week, and the pro-government mainstream press has relentlessly criticized the Islamicists, in one case calling for the use of the Internal Security Act — detention without trial — to "arrest the dangerous trend."

Mr. Mahathir has ordered a review of the oil royalties paid to a state recently brought under the control of the Islamic Party. Many policymakers and sources close to the government say these heavy-handed tactics risk failure.

"The government has completely misunderstood the nature of PAS's appeal," said a government advisor, referring to the opposition party. "It's never been on the basis of money. If you deny them the oil, it's going to create tremendous sympathy for PAS without eroding their support."

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