Barisan Alternatif
|
Alternative Front
Barisan Alternatif 替代阵线 மாற்று முன்னணி |
|
|---|---|
| Founded | 20 September 1998 |
| Dissolved | 21 March 2004 |
| Preceded by |
Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) Gagasan Rakyat (GR) |
| Succeeded by | Pakatan Rakyat (PR) |
| Membership |
National Justice Party (KeADILan) Malaysian People's Party (PRM) Democratic Action Party (DAP) Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
The Barisan Alternatif (BA, Alternative Front in Malay) was a coalition of Malaysian opposition parties, formed as a counterweight to the ruling Barisan Nasional. Disbanded after the 2004 general elections, all 4 former component parties of BA (then 3, after a merger of 2 of the parties) have formed a new coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, following the 2008 general elections.
The impetus for the BA's formation was the 20 September 1998 arrest and subsequent conviction of former UMNO deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who had been fired from his government posts and subsequently became the leader of the Reformasi movement against UMNO. On 24 October 1999, the four largest opposition parties—the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the National Justice Party (Keadilan) and the Malaysian People's Party -- announced an electoral alliance and issued a joint manifesto.
In the 1999 general elections, the BA cooperated to contest only one candidate in each constituency. The big winner was PAS, which captured the states of Kelantan and Terengganu and increased its parliamentary seats from 7 to 27. DAP increased its share from 7 to 10 but with two of its most prominent leaders, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh losing their constituencies. This disappointing performance was blamed mostly on its largely Chinese electorate's distrust of the alliance with PAS. The newly formed Keadilan, crippled by the detention of many of its leaders, took only 5 seats. The Barisan Nasional retained a 77% absolute majority with 148 of 193 seats.
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