Less than 10 years ago former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was languishing in prison, suffering from arsenic poisoning surreptitiously introduced into his drinking water. Mr. Anwar was sacked after challenging the rule of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. Jailed on what he claimed to be politically motivated charges of sodomy and corruption, not only was Mr. Anwar’s political career apparently over, but his life was in danger. Only after his family secretly smuggled blood samples out of the country to confirm the poisoning were steps taken to ensure his health.

Fast forward to March 8, 2008. Even though he remains unable to stand for election until April of 2008 due to his previous incarceration, the Anwar-led opposition coalition dealt a stunning blow to the ruling Barisan National (BN) Party, breaking its decades-old super majority control of parliament. To call it a “comeback” would be an understatement. While the BN continues to hold a simple majority, a tectonic shift has taken place in Malaysian politics, and it was in many ways engineered by Mr. Anwar.

The last time the ruling BN party failed to secure a super majority in parliament was 1969. Following the elections, Chinese celebrations sparked race riots that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. This national trauma catalyzed the establishment of a controversial race-based system of governance rooted in a New Economic Policy (NEP) that gave preferential treatment to the majority Malay Muslim community. A tenuous arrangement with minority Chinese and Indian groups held the country together since that time, mostly under the rule of Mahathir Mohamed whose aggressive economic growth strategies propelled Malaysia into the third largest economy in Southeast Asia. 

Overtime, however, political progress failed to keep pace with economic development. While the largest building in the world was constructed in Kuala Lumpur, political power continued to rest almost entirely along sectarian racial and religious lines. The BN remained unchallenged by a weak opposition incapable of organizing against the status quo. Corruption, mismanagement and concentration of wealth set in. The ruling party had almost complete control over the media, public gatherings, special security laws and other government apparatus.

A number of factors contributed to rising discontent amongst Malaysians across racial divides, including rising crime, a slowing economy, a number of very public corruption scandals and increased oil prices. In addition, increasing discontent emanated from the minority Chinese and Indian communities over the pro-Malay NEP. The BN, now led by Mahathir’s hand-picked successor Abdullah Badawi, recognized its support amongst Chinese and Indians would weaken, but expected that Malay support would remain strong so as to ensure pro-Malay policies.

This was a serious miscalculation. Not only did Chinese and Indians voters flock to the polls in support of the opposition, a number of Malays followed suit. There was a growing realization amongst average Malays that benefits from the NEP seldom found their way to working class segments of the community. Foreign investment continued to decline. Malaysia used to be America’s tenth largest trading partner. It is now number sixteen. While the economy continued to grow, fewer people were benefitting from the gains.

Therein lies Mr. Anwar’s most significant contribution to Malaysia’s political earthquake. He coalesced a fractured opposition movement around the elimination of race-based politics – and did so in such a manner that supporters of the ruling BN party felt no compulsion to turn to violence, as a number of them actually agreed with Mr. Anwar. The achievement was made nonetheless remarkable by the fact that he campaigned through a complete media black-out and relentless attacks on his character through state-controlled media, but continued to draw significant crowds in the tens of thousands across the country including in areas dominated by the ruling party. The opposition’s innovative use of Youtube and text-messaging no doubt played a role in this as well.

Mr. Anwar was able to broker a cooperative arrangement amongst three major opposition parties – the left leaning mostly Chinese DAP, the Malay Islamist PAS party and his own PKR multi-racial Justice Party - to challenge the BN one-to-one in each contest. The opposition was able to achieve what most said was impossible given the entrenched power of the ruling BN party; undercut BN support amongst Malays by appealing to their sense of justice and fairness.

Malaysia’s race-based system was likely to give way sooner or later, however Mr. Anwar paved a path for peaceful transition by bringing his credibility as a Malay politician to the table while simultaneously assuring Chinese and Indians that their rights would be respected. He talked Malays into letting go of the fear that incited communal riots in 1969. It is no small feat to peacefully transition out of entrenched systems of entitlement. One need only review Iraq’s unfortunate history since 2003 for an example of how such a process can be terribly mismanaged.

While the opposition victory is certainly critical for charting a more egalitarian future for Malaysia, it also bodes well for the development of Muslim democracy. The opposition coalition’s orientation brought moderate elements from the Islamist PAS party forward. PAS even fielded a non-Muslim candidate, an unprecedented move in its history. Meanwhile, Badawi sought to leverage racial divide by appealing to Malays through increasingly Islamist rhetoric. His efforts were resoundingly rebuked. The election results demonstrate that the majority Muslim country is interested in exploring a system politics that does not discriminate based on race or religion.

A weakened BN party cannot be entirely attributed to Anwar Ibrahim’s improbable political resurrection. However, he undoubtedly played a critical role in organizing the opposition and reasoning the Malay population through this transition. Political possibilities that were unthinkable last week in Malaysia are all of a suddenly on the table. Mr. Anwar refers to this reality as a new dawn for the country. If he is successful in accomplishing his stated goals, most fair-minded observers would have to agree.

Mr. Ahmad is an essayist based in Cambridge, Mass. His commentary and analysis has appeared in the Economist, the Washington Post and other publications on issues related to national and international politics.