The People's Justice Party (Malay: Parti Keadilan Rakyat, often known simply as Keadilan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. Keadilan was led by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and increased its parliamentary representation from 1 seat to 31 seats in the Malaysian general election, 2008 until the five-year political ban imposed on former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was lifted on April 14, 2008.
Keadilan promotes an agenda with a strong social justice and anti-corruption emphasis. Recently the party adopted a platform that seeks to abolish the New Economic Policy and replace it with a policy that emphasises on a non-ethnic approach in poverty eradication and correcting economic imbalances.
1997 saw the economy of Malaysia affected by what is now known as the Asian Economic Crisis. The Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim (also Deputy Prime Minister), instituted a series of economic reforms and austerity measures in response. These actions were exacerbated when he tabled controversial amendments to the Anti Corruption Act that sought to increase the powers of the Anti Corruption Agency [1]. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad disagreed with these measures and ultimately sacked Anwar from all his posts [2].
This incident and the circumstances in which it happened led to a public outcry in what became known as the Reformasi movement but it also resulted in the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Anwar on what many believe to be politically motivated charges of sexual misconduct and corruption [3].
Building on the momentum of the Reformasi movement, a political movement was formed as Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party in English) by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of Anwar Ibrahim, on 4 April 1999. The party was joined by the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the Malaysian People's Party (PRM) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in a broad based electoral alliance known as Barisan Alternatif (Alternative Front) to take on the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition in the 1999 general elections.
Between September 27 and 30, 1999, seven activists, including Keadilan leaders; Vice-President Tian Chua, Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Mohamed Azmin Ali, Fairus Izuddin and Dr Badrul Amin Baharun; were arrested and as a result prevented from contesting in the elections [4]. Further arrests were made on 10 April 2001 and those arrested were subsequently charged and incarcerated under the Internal Security Act [5]. They became known as the Reformasi 10 [6].
The party entered the campaign with many of its key leaders under arrest and as a result saw it winning only five parliamentary seats in the elections despite gaining 11.67% of the total votes cast. The Barisan Alternatif as a whole gained 40.21% of the total votes cast with PAS gaining 27 seats and DAP gaining ten seats.
The post election period saw negotiations between Keadilan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) on a possible merger [7]. Despite some opposition in both parties to the move [8] [9], a 13 point Memorandum of Understanding was eventually signed by the two parties on 5 July 2002 [10].
On 3 August 2003, the new merged entity was officially launched and assumed its current name [11
As the new amendments to the party constitution had yet to be approved by the Registrar of Societies, candidates from PRM contested the 2004 General Elections using the symbol of the old National Justice Party [12].
The party fared poorly in the elections and only managed to defend one parliamentary seat, despite winning 9% of the popular vote. The poor showing was later attributed to malapportionment and gerrymandering in the delineation of constituencies, with one estimate suggesting that on average, a vote for the Barisan Nasional government was worth 28 times the vote of a Keadilan supporter[13].
On 2 September 2004, in a decision by the Federal Court, Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy conviction was overturned and he was freed. This unexpected turn of events came timely for Keadilan which was facing flagging morale due to its dismal performance in the elections.
In December 2005 Keadilan organised its second national congress [14]. Among the motions passed was the New Economic Agenda[15] that envisioned a non-racial economic policy to replace the race-based New Economic Policy.
Keadilan managed a breakthrough into Sarawak politics in May 2006. In Sarawak state elections, Dominique Ng, a lawyer and activist, won in the Padungan constituency in Kuching, a majority Chinese locale. Keadilan lost narrowly in Saribas, a Malay-Melanau constituency by just 94 votes. Sarawak is a traditional Barisan Nasional stronghold.
Keadilan has also pursued an aggressive strategy of getting key personalities from within and outside politics. In July 2006, Khalid Ibrahim, former CEO of Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Guthrie (Malaysia), was appointed as Treasurer of the Keadilan. K.S. Nallakarupan, a former Malaysian Indian Congress Youth, and Jeffrey Kitingan, a popular Kadazan politician and brother of Joseph Pairin Kitingan, president of the Barisan Nasional-aligned Parti Bersatu Sabah, have also recently joined the party.
In the 2008 elections, Keadilan won 31 seats in Parliament, with DAP and PAS making substantial gains as well with 28 seats and 23 seats respectively. In total, the taking of 82 seats by the opposition to Barisan Nasional's 140 seats, makes it the best performance in Malaysian history by the opposition, and denies Barisan Nasional the two-thirds majority required to make constitutional changes in the Dewan Rakyat.
Keadilan also successfully contested the state legislative elections which saw the loose coalition of Keadilan, DAP and PAS forming coalition governments in the states of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. The offices of the Menteri Besar of Selangor and the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang are held by Keadilan elected representatives, Khalid Ibrahim and Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, respectively.
Keadilan promotes an agenda with a strong social justice and anti-corruption emphasis. Recently the party adopted a platform that seeks to abolish the New Economic Policy and replace it with a policy that emphasises on a non-ethnic approach in poverty eradication and correcting economic imbalances.
1997 saw the economy of Malaysia affected by what is now known as the Asian Economic Crisis. The Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim (also Deputy Prime Minister), instituted a series of economic reforms and austerity measures in response. These actions were exacerbated when he tabled controversial amendments to the Anti Corruption Act that sought to increase the powers of the Anti Corruption Agency [1]. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad disagreed with these measures and ultimately sacked Anwar from all his posts [2].
This incident and the circumstances in which it happened led to a public outcry in what became known as the Reformasi movement but it also resulted in the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Anwar on what many believe to be politically motivated charges of sexual misconduct and corruption [3].
Building on the momentum of the Reformasi movement, a political movement was formed as Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party in English) by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of Anwar Ibrahim, on 4 April 1999. The party was joined by the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the Malaysian People's Party (PRM) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in a broad based electoral alliance known as Barisan Alternatif (Alternative Front) to take on the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition in the 1999 general elections.
Between September 27 and 30, 1999, seven activists, including Keadilan leaders; Vice-President Tian Chua, Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Mohamed Azmin Ali, Fairus Izuddin and Dr Badrul Amin Baharun; were arrested and as a result prevented from contesting in the elections [4]. Further arrests were made on 10 April 2001 and those arrested were subsequently charged and incarcerated under the Internal Security Act [5]. They became known as the Reformasi 10 [6].
The party entered the campaign with many of its key leaders under arrest and as a result saw it winning only five parliamentary seats in the elections despite gaining 11.67% of the total votes cast. The Barisan Alternatif as a whole gained 40.21% of the total votes cast with PAS gaining 27 seats and DAP gaining ten seats.
The post election period saw negotiations between Keadilan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) on a possible merger [7]. Despite some opposition in both parties to the move [8] [9], a 13 point Memorandum of Understanding was eventually signed by the two parties on 5 July 2002 [10].
On 3 August 2003, the new merged entity was officially launched and assumed its current name [11
As the new amendments to the party constitution had yet to be approved by the Registrar of Societies, candidates from PRM contested the 2004 General Elections using the symbol of the old National Justice Party [12].
The party fared poorly in the elections and only managed to defend one parliamentary seat, despite winning 9% of the popular vote. The poor showing was later attributed to malapportionment and gerrymandering in the delineation of constituencies, with one estimate suggesting that on average, a vote for the Barisan Nasional government was worth 28 times the vote of a Keadilan supporter[13].
On 2 September 2004, in a decision by the Federal Court, Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy conviction was overturned and he was freed. This unexpected turn of events came timely for Keadilan which was facing flagging morale due to its dismal performance in the elections.
In December 2005 Keadilan organised its second national congress [14]. Among the motions passed was the New Economic Agenda[15] that envisioned a non-racial economic policy to replace the race-based New Economic Policy.
Keadilan managed a breakthrough into Sarawak politics in May 2006. In Sarawak state elections, Dominique Ng, a lawyer and activist, won in the Padungan constituency in Kuching, a majority Chinese locale. Keadilan lost narrowly in Saribas, a Malay-Melanau constituency by just 94 votes. Sarawak is a traditional Barisan Nasional stronghold.
Keadilan has also pursued an aggressive strategy of getting key personalities from within and outside politics. In July 2006, Khalid Ibrahim, former CEO of Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Guthrie (Malaysia), was appointed as Treasurer of the Keadilan. K.S. Nallakarupan, a former Malaysian Indian Congress Youth, and Jeffrey Kitingan, a popular Kadazan politician and brother of Joseph Pairin Kitingan, president of the Barisan Nasional-aligned Parti Bersatu Sabah, have also recently joined the party.
In the 2008 elections, Keadilan won 31 seats in Parliament, with DAP and PAS making substantial gains as well with 28 seats and 23 seats respectively. In total, the taking of 82 seats by the opposition to Barisan Nasional's 140 seats, makes it the best performance in Malaysian history by the opposition, and denies Barisan Nasional the two-thirds majority required to make constitutional changes in the Dewan Rakyat.
Keadilan also successfully contested the state legislative elections which saw the loose coalition of Keadilan, DAP and PAS forming coalition governments in the states of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. The offices of the Menteri Besar of Selangor and the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang are held by Keadilan elected representatives, Khalid Ibrahim and Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, respectively.
