When activists with the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) marched on the streets of Kuala Lumpur on 25 November 2007, hoping to highlight the plight of the poorer sections of the Malaysian Indian community, little did they realise that their actions were to act as a catalyst that would change the course of Malaysia's political landscape. Their call for makkal sakthi (people's power) – fuelled perhaps by similar events in Pakistan, Burma and the buzzword of 'change' in the run-up to the US presidential elections – seems to have had a striking impact on the 12th Malaysian general elections, held on 8 March.
Since independence in 1957, Malaysians have been governed by an ethnicity-based tripartite coalition comprised of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC). This alliance, now known as the Barisan Nasional, was formed in 1955 to contest Malaysia's first general election. In formulating the country's new Constitution in 1957, however, the leaders of the latter two parties conceded a handful of crucial issues to the UMNO: Islam as the official religion; Malay as the national language; and the privileged position to the Malay and indigenous peoples of Malaysia, as well as the special positions allotted to Malay rulers. Under the Malaysian Constitution, the king has the responsibility of safeguarding the rights and privileges of the Malay and other indigenous peoples of Malaysia, with regard to reservations for positions in the public sector, scholarships and the like.
Against this background, Malaysians woke up on 9 March 2008 to an extraordinary political scenario. The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition had failed to obtain a two-thirds majority in Parliament, though it had won a simple majority, enough to precariously hold on to its right to form the new government. Meanwhile, the loss of five states and Kuala Lumpur to a loosely constructed coalition named the Barisan Alternatif – consisting of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR, or People's Justice Party, led by led by the charismatic former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim), and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS, or Islamic Party of Malaysia) – was an unprecedented occurrence in Malaysian politics. The results were seen as a crushing indictment of the Barisan Nasional.
Moreover, under the 'social contract' formed at the time, the three parties agreed to share power according to the population ratios of each ethnic group. Due to its small numbers, around 8-10 percent of the total population since 1957, the Indian community subsequently had the weakest political voice. These built-in political constraints and the resulting submissiveness were to mark all future relations between the three parties in the Barisan Nasional, resulting in the MIC being seen as becoming increasingly ineffective in addressing issues of particular importance to the Indian community.