KUALA LUMPUR – Perhaps for the first time in recent memory, candidates representing a political party for election may be picked by ordinary members rather than the leadership.
This is the goal of Malaysian United Democratic Alliance, better known as Muda, the youth-based party championed by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman. If the plan comes to fruition, it will mark a milestone in the country’s political history.
Jean Vaneisha, who is part of Muda’s steering committee, told The Vibes, said the party is seriously considering this option for selecting its election candidates.
“We have been looking at the inefficiency of traditional politics, where it’s the leadership who will choose a party’s electoral candidates.
“We are considering letting ordinary members make this choice. We want to ensure members have a direct say in the selection process.”
Jean, who is also the secretary-general of youth group Challenger Malaysia, said the response on the proposal so far has been encouraging.
She said more than 70% of respondents surveyed by the #MasaKita youth movement agreed to the proposal.
“It just shows that the people want to be part of it.”
Not a novel idea
Globally, primary elections are practised in some countries – either among ordinary members or involving all voters.
A prime example is the United States, where most of its states hold primary elections to decide on their presidential candidates.
Since 2010, the UK’s Conservative Party has been embracing primaries, with a number of its candidates selected via this process.
Such an approach helps parties to select candidates who have grassroots support, and considered to be more democratic.
Detractors say primaries consume more time and money, weaken a party’s structure by focusing on individuals rather than manifesto and policies, and take away decisions by those deemed more politically experienced.
In Malaysia, candidates are typically nominated by the branch or division leaders of a political party, before being approved by either the central election committee or its top leadership.
Ranked-choice voting may be considered
Jean said Muda has yet to finalise its mechanism.
She added that the party is considering using ranked-choice voting to select candidates, allowing voters to rank their choices by preference.
Under this system, a candidate with a majority (above 50%) first-preference votes will be declared the winner.
The one with the fewest first-preference votes will be eliminated, and first-preference votes cast for the failed candidate won’t be picked as well.
A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes and the process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.
This system ensures the winner has the approval of the majority. – The Vibes, September 30, 2020
