Beyond the Ballot Box

There has been a series of protests organised by Youth activist group, Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR). You might remember pictures from a few weeks ago of protesters in PPEs, carrying mock dead bodies, waving black flags. This was followed by the Convoy protest last week, where protesters across the nation sat in their cars and drove to dedicated spots, while waving black flags. And this coming Saturday on the 31st of July, the organisers are planning an even bigger protest at Dataran Merdeka and are urging the rakyat to #LAWAN. 

Qyira Yusri, Co-Founder of UNDI 18 and one of the key figures at Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat, joins us to discuss.

Image source: #LAWAN Malaysia

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 14th General Elections was a historic occasion. After governing the country for more than 60 years, the ruling Barisan Nasional government was voted out by the people of Malaysia. For many Malaysians, this was meant to be the start of the country moving in a completely different direction. But much of PH’s tenure was plagued by infighting between Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim. And fast forward to today, and it seems like our political scene is dominated by the same old faces engaged in decades long petty, elite political battles. 

Question is, how did we end up here? And did we actually change anything after GE-14?

Dr Sharifah Munirah Alatas joins us to discuss.

Image source: Najib Razak Facebook, Anwar Ibrahim Facebook, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamed Facebook, Muhyiddin Yassin Facebook

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amid the rising number of positive COVID-19 cases, job losses and suicide cases, we’ve got another round of, no, not brilliant policy ideas focused on the people’s welfare, but of course, more elite level political drama. Last evening, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been promoted to Deputy Prime Minister, while Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has been appointed as Senior Minister, with immediate effect. Both these ministers are from UMNO. However, a few hours later, UMNO announced that it will be pulling out its support for the Prime Minister and his government, also effective immediately. Political commentator, James Chai, joins us to unpack it all.

Image source: Ismail Sabri Yaakob Facebook, Hishammuddin Hussein Facebook. Zahid Hamidi Facebook

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Arveent Kathirtchelvan of PSM Youth recently wrote an article exploring why Parliamentary Democracy will not be a solution to a lot of the problems, despite what many think. We have a conversation with him about what he thinks would be a better way to actually give power to the people.

Image source: Shutterstock 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There seems to be quite a lot of noise coming from UMNO over the past week or so, from statutory declarations to the continuous war among factions that seems to be eating the party up from the inside out. So, what’s up with UMNO? Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs joins us to share his insights.

Image source: Ahmad Maslan Facebook, Shutterstock, Zahid Hamidi Facebook

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few days ago, the Kuala Lumpur High Court rejected former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bid to stop a bankruptcy order, which was slapped onto him in April, for failing to pay a tax bill totalling 1.74 billion ringgit. But what does this all mean for Najib and our political landscape? Constitutional lawyer, Lim Wei Jiet and political commentator, James Chai, joins us to discuss.

Image source: EPA-EFE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It looks like it’s shaping up to be a pretty hectic couple of weeks at the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s palace. His majesty wrapped up his first day of meetings with the head honchos from the opposition bench yesterday, with more meetings scheduled for today. On top of that, the YDPA is also set to convene a special Rulers’ conference next week. 

But what exactly is going on? And should we expect any significant changes in the coming months? Dr Bridget Welsh, joins us to discuss.

Image source: Anwar Ibrahim Facebook, Istana Negara Facebook, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad Facebook 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many analysts and researchers have pointed out that our electoral system is highly flawed. That the British’s First-Past-The-Post system that we still use in Malaysia to this day is not only unfair to the people but also does not encourage diversity in our political space. Think of the seat negotiations that take place among coalition buddies before elections, or how you vote for the party with the strongest chance of defeating the incumbent, as opposed to a party that you necessarily agree with. Worst of all, is how the value of each of our votes aren’t equal, contrary to popular belief. 

On this episode, Yap Ming Yao, who’s a researcher at UNDI Saksama, joins us to discuss our broken electoral system and what we can do to fix it.

Image source: Shutterstock 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the longest time, DAP has been labelled, by some, as a pro-Chinese, evil party. But are things changing with a new wave of younger representatives in the party? On this episode, DAP Youth Chief Howard Lee joins us to discuss social democracy and the Future of DAP.

Image Source: Howard Lee Facebook

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s episode of Beyond the Ballot Box, we take a look at democracy. What does it actually mean in Malaysia? Qyira Yusri of UNDI18 and Sharan Raj of PSM, join us to discuss if elections should be held during a pandemic, the importance of protests, and how we can change the mindset of the rakyat, so that we know that we have the power to shape the country in our image, not the government/elites.

Image source: Sharan Raj's Facebook, EPA-EFE, Qyira Yusri's LinkedIn

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.