Speaker： Dr. Andreas Ufen, German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Title： Democratization by Elections in Malaysia. Causes of the May 2018 Electoral Revolution

Date and Time: October 12th (Fri.) 2018, 12:00-
Venue: Tonan-tei (Room no. 201) on the second floor of Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, CSEAS, Kyoto University

Abstract：
In May 2018, after more than six decades, the ruling coalition in
Malaysia lost at federal lections for the first time. This “electoral
revolution” was the result of two necessary factors. First, weakened
cohesion of the ruling coalition (i.e. particularly the split of UMNO),
and second, the establishment of a strong and cohesive opposition
coalition. Yet, this constellation of forces alone does not constitute a
sufficient explanation. It has to be added that the government was not
able to fully dispose of its traditional tools to maintain
authoritarianism. Because of new media, international exposure, and
powerful civil society networks, the government was forced to use these
tools cautiously and with much restraint, and thus ineffectively. In
comparison to all the previous federal elections, all the necessary
conditions to produce an electoral revolution combined only in 2018.

Moderator: Prof. Masaaki OKAMOTO, CSEAS, Kyoto Universy