event

Assessing Malaysia’s Election

Tue. May 14th, 2013
Washington, DC

In a close general election on May 5, Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition retained power despite securing less than 50 percent of the popular vote. While BN has been in power since 1957, this election has highlighted serious differences in opinion between rural and urban areas, the poor and the middle class, and majority Malays and minority racial groups. Prime Minister Najib now faces the challenging task of bringing the nation together and addressing the deep fault lines revealed by the election while pressing ahead with economic reforms. 

U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia Paul W. Jones, American University’s Pek Koon Heng, and the US-ASEAN Business Council’s Marc Mealy discussed the outcomes and implications of Malaysia’s elections. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru  moderated. This event was held under Chatham House Rules.

Political ReformDemocracyEconomySoutheast Asia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Paul Jones

Pek Koon Heng

Marc Mealy

Marc Mealy is the senior vice president for policy at the US-ASEAN Business Council. He coordinates advocacy efforts across the Council’s country and industry committees, and he serves as the in-house lead on international trade policy. Mealy began his career as an international economist with the International Trade Policy Division of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Services, and he later served as a member of the Professional Staff of the House International Relations Committee, as well as a trade and foreign policy advisor to now current chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Congressman Gregory Meeks (then on the House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees).

Vikram Nehru

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Asia Program

Nehru was a nonresident senior fellow in the Carnegie Asia Program. An expert on development economics, growth, poverty reduction, debt sustainability, governance, and the performance and prospects of East Asia, his research focuses on the economic, political, and strategic issues confronting Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.