Taipei, Taiwan - The recent victory of Anwar Ibrahim in the Tuesday’s elections has further heightened Malaysian solidarity for political reforms. While there are suspicions over Ibrahim’s capacity to unite the nation that has been divided based on religious and racial lines, optimism over the end of the ruling coalition prevails.

“What we are seeing is strength of people power, where voting has been exercised beyond racial lines,” Visla Kumaresan of Fiesta Feminista describes.

Support for the opposition continues to increase with the glaring corruption and fundamentalisms demonstrated by Barisan Nasional. The ruling coalition has drawn flak due to its palpable bias for Islam at the expense of democracy and human rights. This year alone, people have been outraged by some legal cases where the civil court has surrendered its authority and jurisdiction to the Sharia court. The ruling party also prohibited faith dialogues and other initiatives which tend to question the special position of Islam. Just a few months ago, Ibrahim faced yet another sodomy charge that is widely believed to be concocted by the State.

The current political charged climate has never been experienced before. Unlike other opportunities for reforms in the past, the present developments have afforded civil society more meaningful participation. Some activists, including those representing women and other marginalised sectors have earned membership in official councils especially in Selangor state. The exceptional openness of the opposition for dialogue with civil society has allowed pockets of reforms even before the elections. “It is such an opportunity that we did not have with the ruling party,” Kumaresan asserts. “Some figures from the opposition have also developed relationships with members of civil society,” adds her colleague Ng Tze Yeng. Women’s groups have likewise contributed in the process while pushing for women and gender agenda.

Women’s organisation Joint Action Group against Violence Against Women (JAG), for instance campaigned against the re-election of sexist legislators and helped unseat even the more established politicians. Much earlier, it was among those who supported the campaign Kotaken Kata which demanded that elected officials keep their promises. The Women’s Candidacy Initiative project also endorsed progressive and liberal candidates.

For young feminists like Kumaresan and Ng Tze Yeng who voted for the first time, these political developments have been encouraging and exciting, endowing them agency as stakeholders in a political process that might just bring about new politics for Malaysia. But learning from their country’s history, these young women nonetheless temper their own jubilation.

“Based on his past politics, we have a distrust towards Anwar,” says Yeng. “But it will be political suicide if we backtrack now. He is our best and only choice,” adds Kumaresan.