Tsunami India dalam Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-14: Peralihan Sokongan Daripada Politik Etnik Kepada Politik Multietnik (Indian Tsunami In The 14th General Election: A Shift In Support From An Ethnic Politics To Multiethnic Politics)

Abstract

This article discusses the attributes for the major shift in Indian voters’ support from an ethnic-based political party to a multi-ethnic political party in the 14th General Election in Malaysia. GE14 changed the country’s political landscape, which resulted in the Malaysia’s first electoral transfer of political power since independence. It witnessed a change by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in breaking Barisan Nasional’s (BN) sixty-year reign. The GE-14 political tsunami was also a testament to the vast potential of peoples’s power in bringing about change. Malaysian Indians lent a huge support to PH as they too opted for change. Their cooperation led to a significant swing in Indian votes to PH, which resulted in the downfall of the former ruling coalition, BN. Various factors contributed to the huge swing in Indian votes for PH in GE-14 including unsolved Indian problems, the failure of MIC, lack of credibility among its leaders, the leadership of Mahathir Mohamad, the strength of PH’s Manifesto, the role of social media, the roles played bythe younger generation and Hindraf. Indian support for MIC and BN has drastically decreased since GE-12 when the parties failed to improve the socioeconomic status of the Indian community. This, in turn, has made way for Indians to move from an ethnic-based political party to a multiracial-based political party in GE-14.