VIEWS OF POLITICAL ANALYSTS AND POLITICIANS

Views of political analysts and politicians SANI HAMID, DIRECTOR OF SOVEREIGN RATINGS, STANDARD AND POOR'S
'In my point of view there is no immediate effect on the sovereign rating, but the focus will actually be on two fronts, one is a decision-making process, i.e. what is the impact from the loss of the two-thirds majority on parliament?

'If that is going to lead a more difficult push to pass legislation, especially those measures that relate to the economy, one can imagine that if the government wants to raise oil prices, the other parties could create some opposition and the process would be more protracted.'

'Secondly, the opposition states, Kedah and Penang, are key states in the northern corridor story, so how this is going to impact those states with regard to investment and public funds will have to be seen as well.'

MALAYSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ANWAR IBRAHIM: 'All Malaysians regardless of race, culture and religion are a nation of one. The people have expressed in no uncertain terms that they want accountability, transparency and the rule of law.'

'Today unity, consensus and mutual respect thrives. Tomorrow we will start building a brighter future. This is a new dawn.'

TIM CONDON, HEAD OF ASIA RESEARCH, ING: 'This is probably not good news for the equity market or the ringgit. I think the consensus was that the BN coalition would soldier on and have a sufficient majority to push through their spending programmes and the development of their corridors (economic development zones) ... but this puts in doubt that they will even be able to implement their spending programmes.

There really was no feel-good factor before (the election) and this really reduces the likelihood that there will be one in the near future.'

BRIDGET WELSH, POLITICAL ANALYST, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: 'It was a phenomenal shift. They lost up to potentially four state governments. I think the PM will potentially have to resign. This is unprecedented. The only other time this happened was in 1969 and that's why everybody is very nervous now because of the uncertainty.'

DAVID COHEN, ECONOMIST, ACCESS ECONOMICS: 'I guess the question now is, 'Is it going to be peaceful?' If they are able to control it, then that would at least avoid one potentially negative reaction ... Maybe it's an encouraging sign that real contested elections can be held without violence.'

'If they had won overwhelmingly, I think there would have been suspicions that there was fraud, so the fact that they did allow the opposition to make these gains is encouraging.' Cohen doubted that rising prices alone would account for a heavy backlash against the ruling coalition.'

'Frankly, I don't think that that's what would have been to blame for the opposition doing so well. People are certainly nervous about the economic outlook for the world economy right now, but I think that's more a function of what's going on in the US.'

IBRAHIM SUFFIAN, OF MARKET-RESEARCH FIRM THE MERDEKA CENTER: 'I think the opposition is 20 to 30 seats away from forming government and that's what the unofficial count is revealing. I think it's a combination of many factors. I think, number one, is the economy - the economy is doing well, but it's not translating into a better standard of living for ordinary Malaysians.'

'The level of campaigning that's being done by the opposition is phenomenal, much, much better than previous elections. It's not just the result of being better organised and better prepared, it's also the support of the people who are a bit fed up. There's also infighting within (main ruling party) Umno.'

SAM ZARIFI, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, WASHINGTON: 'First of all, we saw several attempts by the coalition to try and not have these elections free and fair. Clearly, they were worried about the possibility of losing, more than any other time. At the same time, it was clear that there has been some discontent with the state of affairs in Malaysia and that the people of Malaysia really wanted an end to what has essentially been a state in which they don't have freedom of press, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.'

'There is no excuse or reason any more for Malaysia not to have that freedom. For a country that has made so much of economic progress, it is time to catch up politically. ... What we hope to see is that parliament will begin dismantling some of the authoritarian laws and systems that have been in place for too long, starting with the Internal Security arrangements. ... Opening up of Malaysian society to allow it to flourish.'

YAP SWEE SENG, ACTIVIST WITH HUMAN RIGHTS BODY SUARAM: 'This is a victory of people who were fed up with Barisan Nasional's mismanagement and abuse of power. People have sent a very clear message that they are fed up with racial politics.

HUSAM MUSA, VICE PRESIDENT OF PARTI ISLAM SE-MALAYSIA: 'This looks like a revolution. The people have risen and are united. The message to government is, 'Enough is enough''.