Video #20 - Malaysia and Taiwan: Presidential Elections

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

sources | lesson plan

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In Malaysia's 11th General Election on March 21, 2004, the Barisan Nasional (BN) party won 63.8% of the popular vote. The party not only won the presidential election but also 90% of all the seats in parliament. BN made major gains throughout Malaysia, including areas with different ethnic mixes. The election results show support for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's record since he took office November 1, 2003. According to Francis Loh of Aliran Monthly: "It has become clearer what (Badawi) meant when he proclaimed that he would...develop a 'first-class mentality' among Malaysians to accompany the 'first-class infrastructure' that (former Prime Minister) Mahathir left behind. These changes pertained to 'improving governance,' 'fighting corruption,' restoring 'safety and security,' 'improving the delivery of services by the civil service' and what might be termed a 'work with me' style of politics."

The Christian Federation of Malaysia is reported as saying that the election results are a mandate in support of Badawi's agenda to build a government and a nation that is democratic, multi-religious, multi-racial and prosperous. This--and prosperity brought about by quick economic growth-- are heralded as largely responsible for Badawi's victory. The election is also seen as a good omen for the future, as maintaining political stability attracts foreign investment which in turn provides economic stability and job.

In Wong Sulong's opinion: "...the 2004 general election outcome will not only have a big impact on foreign portfolio investments in Malaysia, but also Malaysia's foreign relations, particularly countries which it had recently had some prickly issues, like Singapore, the US and Australia. Malaysia is back in the loop of countries in Asia that are working democracies, have open economies, are pro-business, and have pragmatic and moderate governments committed to reforms, good governance and social justice." The consensus of opinion is that Malaysia's success at controlling Islamic fundamentalism also may be a lesson for other countries.

On the other hand, Taiwan's presidential election did not go as smoothly. During the final day of campaigning, President Chen Shui-bian was shot in the stomach and Vice President Annette Lu was hit in the right knee. They were shot when shots were fired into their motorcade in Tainan, the president's home town. Neither official suffered life-threatening injuries.

Opposition candidate Lien Chan told a news conference how shocked he was at the news, cancelled his own political rallies and asked for calm. The election went on as planned the next day.

Some report that this election was a landmark event, and a "turning point" in Taiwan's relationship with China. Candidate Lien Chan was reported to have a softer approach to China although both he and Chen agreed in their distrust of the Mainland and turned down immediate unification. (Tension has increased since China has threatened to attack if Taiwan refuses reunification. As a result, a referendum added to the election asked voters whether Taiwan should increase defenses to protect against Chinese missiles).

In the end, Chen had 50.11% of the votes and Lien had 49.89%. The margin was such that a recount was demanded. Even the assassination attempt was deemed staged to gain sympathy for the incumbent candidates. As a result, Chen appointed an independent investigation of the incident. Despite the protests, lawsuits and calls for change in the election laws, the Central Election Commission officially confirmed the election results on March 26, 2004.

Amidst major protests, Chen and Lu signed letters promising not to contest the new Pan-Blue petition for a recount on March 29. The High Court scheduled a recount for May 10. China Daily reported that : "More than 400 judges and 1,600 lawyers joined Central Election Commission officials at 21 district courts around the island to open the sealed ballot boxes and monitor the recount. The entire process is expected to take at least 10 days." Chen won by about 30,000 votes out of about 13 million votes cast. An unprecedented 330,000 ballots were declared invalid.

The High Court hoped to complete the recount before the presidential inauguration on May 20. Unfortunately, there are 23,000 disputed votes belonging to Mr. Chen and 16,000 for Lien Chan. Although it is highly unlikely that the election results will be overturned, the High Court had not ruled by inauguration time.

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SOURCES

"ROC presidential election, 2004." Ask Jeeves.com

"Taiwan Starts Recount of Disputed Election." China Daily, May 10, 2004 china.org.cn

"Taiwan vote recount ends." BBC News, May 18, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/3724203.stm

"Taiwanese president, vice president shot on eve of presidential election." March 19, 2004. Taiwan News. TaiwanNews.com

"Well done, say Schroeder and Blair to Pak Lah." The Star Online, March 25, 2004.

Chinoy, Mike, "Clashes as Taiwan mulls recount." CNN.com, May 6, 2004

Dadameah, Shah A., "Captain and his team set to shine." The Star Online, March 25, 2004.

Loh, Francis, "Understanding the 2004 Election Results." Aliran Monthly, 2004:3.

Sulong, Wong, "Malaysia is back in the loop." The Star Online, March 25, 2004.

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LESSON PLAN

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:

10-12 grade Economics, International Relations, World History, Geography, International Baccalaureate Programs (IB), Current Events.

PURPOSE:

To present activities to be used in a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of the Malaysian economy and its significance globally.

OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to:

1. Locate Malaysia and Taiwan on a map of Asia.
2. Describe the political histories of both nations.
3. Synthesize the platforms of each of the candidates in both countries.
4. Evaluate the consequences of the election for Malaysia and Taiwan.

MATERIALS:

1. Background information provided.
2. Resources on business process outsourcing banking available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area.
3. Background information available through Internet "search engines".

ACTIVITIES:

May be assigned as group activities or as individual tasks. They may also be designed as preparation for related presentations either by individuals or groups.

1. Illustrate Malaysia and Taiwan on a map of Asia.
2. Develop a timeline of events leading to each election.
3. Write an editorial analyzing the economic consequences of Malaysia's election.
4. Hold a class debate expressing the Pan-Green and the Pan-Blue party's views of the election results.
5. When the official High Court ruling takes place, write an editorial expressing your views on the results of the election in Taiwan.
6. Hold a class debate on the reunification of Taiwan and China.

EVALUATION:

Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria.

Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale: Content 1 = Superior (A) Creativity 2 = Excellent (B) Clarity 3 = Good (C) 4 = Fair (D) 5 = Poor (F)

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