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Malaysia’s Single­party Dominance:Can it Survive the IMDB Financial Scandal?

A momentous financial scandal broke in Malaysia in mid­ 2015. It has involved a strategic development company, 1MDB (One Malaysia Development Corp), owned by the Ministry of Finance and with an advisory board chaired by the Prime Minister and First Finance Minister, Najib Tun Razak. 1MDB’s losses are unprecedented in their amounts, by some estimates ranging upwards of US$15bn. International media coverage and investigations are unprecedented too in their tracing some of the missing funds directly into Najib’s personal accounts. Mass protests over the scandal have taken place, demanding that Najib resign. Elites have split, with former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad mobilizing a ‘Save Malaysia Movement’. 1MDB has thus been cast by journalists as the ‘death knell’ for Najib fueling widespread expectations over his ouster, perhaps coinciding with major reforms.

This seminar begins by enumerating the institutional sources or political stability in Malaysia, especially the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the country’s dominant party. Next, it charts the extraordinary pressures on Najib, and the regime and that 1MDB has unleashed. But it concludes by showing how Najib, by making ruthless new use of institutions, has survived in office and deepened authoritarian rule.

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<strong>About the Speaker:</strong>

<img class=" wp-image-2600 alignleft" src="http://asiacentre.co.th/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/william-case.jpg" alt="william case" width="143" height="196" />WILLIAM CASE <em>is Professor in the Department of Asian and International Studies and former Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) at City University of Hong Kong. His research interests include comparative politics and the politics of Southeast Asia. He has published extensively on Southeast Asian politics and political economy in academic journals and media outlets. His most recent book, edited, is Routledge Handbook of Democratization in Southeast Asia</em>.