Articles - Bridget Welsh

Launch of “The End of UMNO?: Essays on Malaysia’s dominant party”

October 25, 2016

Reviews and comments on the book, “The End of UMNO?: Essays on Malaysia’s dominant party” ─ a collection of essays written together with John Funston, Clive Kessler, James Chin.

A Tuesday night in Istanbul

July 1, 2016

Most journeys begin with a sense of expectation of arrival at the destination, but last Tuesday – as terror struck Istanbul’s Ataturk airport – the experience was one of rising above expectations. As the world rightly condemns the use of violence against innocent civilians, there is a tendency to overlook the ordinary humanity and heroism that is often present in crises. I witnessed this first hand at Ataturk airport this week.

The June by-elections and the politics of losing

June 21, 2016

The by-election results for Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar are in. Umno held onto their seats, and increased its majorities.

The WelshGE2015 Poll: Post-Election Insights on Voting in Singapore

May 17, 2016

In the past few weeks, two important publications have come out. Terence Lee and Kevin YL Tan have published Change in Voting: Singapore’s 2015 General Election and the special journal of Singapore’s GE in the Round Table edited by James Chin. These publications, featuring younger scholars and diverse views, will contribute to scholarly debate surrounding the gains made by the People’s Action Party (PAP) last September.

Victory and insecurity: Sarawak results and trajectories

May 13, 2016

Taken from New Mandala With the ‘landslide’ results of the Sarawak election last week, it would appear on the surface that Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been given a political reprieve. His close ally Sarawak’s Chief Minister Adenan Satem secured an overwhelming majority of 72 out of 82

A ‘fixed’ result – Sarawak’s electoral distortions

May 7, 2016

As Sarawakians head to the polls today, it is important to understand that the BN-created electoral constituencies in the state will significantly impact the result. Malaysia’s non-independent Electoral Commission (EC) has staked the system in its favour in how it has delineated and recently redrawn the state’s electoral boundaries.