A two-party political system is a
system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all levels
of elections for government.两党制是一个由两大政党主导的政治系统，在所有各级的选举中都参选。再在两党制下拥有多数议席的政党将组成政府，而少数票政党将成为反对党。
我国我国最近也出现了一股力量在推动着两党制。Some proponents have gone to the
extent of proposing the abolishment of race-based party to encourage the growth
of two party system.这些支持者谴责种族性政党是妨碍两党制蓬勃发展的罪魁祸首。他们认为以种族为基础的政党已经不能迎合现代社会的需求，更认为如要两党制健全发展，那废除种族性政党是势在必行的。
两党制到底是不是Is two
party system the only choice that we have?唯一的选择呢？ To answer
this, we have to honestly answer the following questions:要回答这个问题，我们必须真诚的回答以下的问题：
(1)
Is two party system the only solution ? （1）两党制是不是唯一的选择呢？
There are many countries in the world
that practices multiple party system , including developed nations, eg
France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway,
Finland, New Zealand, Ireland, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico and
Brazil.世界上有许多国家（包括发达国家）奉行多党制，典型例子有法国、德国、意大利、加拿大、荷兰、丹麦、瑞典、挪威、芬兰、纽西兰、爱尔兰、台湾、印度、印尼、以色列、墨西哥和巴西等。 除此以外，一一些国家是奉行单一或主导性政党的，例如：中华人民共和国和新加坡。上述的例子皆显示两党制不是唯一的选择。
(2)
Are there any advantages or disadvantages of two party system that we are
unaware of? （2）两党制是否有任何我们不知道的的优势或缺点？
The
advantages of two-party systems are:两党制的优点是：
i)
Two-party systems promote centrism and encourages political parties to find
common positions which appeal to wide swaths of the electorate .一）两党制能促进中央合并，并鼓励各政党达致共识，以便能够获得广大选民的支持。它能让政治稳定，促进经济增长。
ii)
two-party systems are simpler to govern , with less fractiousness and harmony, while multi-party
systems can sometimes lead to hung parliaments.二）两党制是简单的治理系统，它能减少分裂、促进和谐，而多党系统有时会导致悬恃会。
The
disadvantages are:两党制的缺点是：
i)
Two-party systems fail to provide enough options since only two choices are permitted
on the ballot ( The Tyranny of the Two–party system , Lisa Jane Disch
2002).一）两党制无法提供足够的选择 ，因为在选票上它只允许两个选择。
（来源：“两党制的暴政”，Lisa Jane Disch 2002年）。
ii)
The winner-take-all mechanism discourages independent or third-party candidates from
running for office or promulgating their views (" The Electoral College
Explained" in Time Magazine , Kristina Dell, Nov 2001).
二）两党制内的“赢家通吃”的机制，阻碍独立人士或第三方候选人竞选或公布他们的意见。（来源：“选举团解释", 时代周刊，Kristina Dell, Nov 2001）
iii)
The American two-party system is not as representative as the
parliamentary system as the latter is inherently much more open to minority
parties getting much better representation than third parties.
三）美国的两党制不比英国的多党国会模式具代表性，因为后者是本质上更能让第三方代表或少数党有机会成为代表。It is also
interesting to note that majority of democracies around the world have chosen
the British multi-party model ( "Exceptional Democracy" in Huffington
Post , Chris Weigant, April 7, 2010).值得注意的是世界各地的民主模式多数选择了英国的多党模式。（来源：“特殊民主”赫芬顿邮报，Chris Weigant, April 7, 2010）
(3)
Can two party system be implemented in our local political landscape? （3）两党制的能否在我国政治局势中落实？
To
address this question, we must look at a) historical foundation and b) current
development:要回答这个问题，我们必须看：（A）历史基础 和 （B）目前的发展：
a)
Historical foundation A）历史基础
Historically
our parliamentary system is based on the British multi-party model .从历史层面看，我们的议会制度是建立于英国的多党模式。 Despite the
difference, the "winner-takes-all" system in our country is very similar
to the United States and is seen as a catalyst to two-party system.尽管与美国是两党制不同，它的“赢家通吃”机制却令两者看起来非常相似。这间接的成为我国两党制的一个催化剂。 在这在这“赢家通吃”机制下，较弱的政党被逼结盟或融合来够挑战强大的一方霸主，以便在立法议会获得的它的政治影响力。
b)
Current development b）目前的发展
In
the context of Malaysia, a fusion is nearly impossible judging from the fact
that both BN and PR components are formed from the various political parties
with different background, ideologies, objectives and "religion"
(probably the only odd one in this world).在马来西亚的政治背景下，融合 (fusion) 几乎是不可能的，因为国阵（BN）及民联（PR）是由不同的背景，意识形态，目标和“宗教”（大概是世上唯一的怪象）的成员党所组成。It is very
difficult to find an absolute consensus and hence the alliance is formed on a weakly agreed
terms .绝对的共识是非常难找到的，而这些联盟大都由非常脆弱的条件所契合。一旦爆发灰色地带争议而陷入僵局后，其Not
surprisingly many parties and people broke off from the alliance once a
deadlock in the grey area was met.成员党及人士就会相继脱离，这是一点都不奇怪的。To
facilitate fusion, the parties must go through many rounds of evolution and
assimilation, including compromise on their core beliefs in order to reach a
formidable consensus.为了促进融合（fusion），各成员党都必须经过多次的演变(evolution)和同化(assimilation)，包括妥协自己的核心价值观，才能促成一项无坚不摧的共识。除非每个人都愿意妥协，否则It is not
likely going to happen in the near future unless everyone is willing to
compromise!这不太可能会在近期发生！这就是为何The current
two coalition systems between BN and PR has seen many alliance and parting from
its members.国阵及民联的联盟不断有成员加入和成员脱离的原因。Despite the
problems, it is probably the best form of alliance system as they are formed
with a breath of representations from all walks of life.尽管有存在的问题，联盟体制还是最佳的形式，因为它能够容纳各造，籍此达到更广泛的代表性。
(4)
What does it take to have two-party system? （4）怎样才能有两党制？
Firstly,
it is in dire need of the spirit of "non-partisan" and "bi-partisan" which is not
aligned to any party. A "non-partisan" spirit is best option for
healthy political development.首先，两党制的精神必须建立在“非党派（non-partisan）”和“双党派（bi-partisan）”的基础上，简单的说就是不随便以党派的意愿为依归。“非党派”精神是健康的政治发展的主轴。Elected
representatives are free to support any motion and legislation that they think
best serves the interest of their community.代议士可以自由的支持他们认为最符合社会利益的任何议案和立法。“A bi-partisan spirit is where consensus and compromise are made
in order to accomodate the demands of both parties, again in the interest of
the people.双党派”是一项以人民利益为大前提，但通过共识和妥协来迎合双党的要求的精神。 There is however a tendency to put the party's interest on top of
the interest of the people and hence care must be taken to avoid this from
happening.然而，但它却可能会有把党的利益放在人民之前的倾向，因此必须小心避免这种情况发生。
Our
political system in Malaysia has always been in a "partisan" or
polarized/bias style where the opposition will always object to the ruling
party, and the ruling party will always object to the proposal of the
opposition.马来西亚的政治制度一直都处于“党派”或“极化/偏置”的形式，反对党始终都反对执政党的政策，而执政党始终都否决反对党的提议。This is
unhealthy as humans can sometimes err in their decisions.这是不健康的，因为人非圣、贤孰能无过。 就因为就因为这两极化的观点，错误的一方总是不愿意作出妥协，导致错误持续存在。与其看到两党派党派耗尽所有时间搞对立，我衷心希望看到一个无党派和两党派的精神在我国政坛出现。 We all should support the right thing instead of merely
echoing the party's agenda.我们都应该支持正确的事情，而不是仅仅附和党的议程。The recent tabling of President
Obama's budget also saw the spirit of "bi-partisan" being put
into effect when a consensus is reached between the Democrats and Republican.最近美国总统奥巴马提交的财政预算也见证了“双党派”精神付诸实施，民主党和共和党之间最终达成共识。If the Americans can do it, why can't
we?如果美国人能做到这一点，我们为什么不能呢？
Contrary
to popular belief that race-based politics are hindrances to the development of
two party system, it is the "object for the sake of objecting" mentality
that must stop in order to encourage two party system to flourish.民间一般认为以种族为基础的政治是两党制发展的障碍，其实不然。反而是“为了反对而反对”的心态必须停止，才能鼓励两党制的发展。 A two party system allows the opposition party to have strong
check and balance power but at the same time require them to exercise this
power with care.两党制能让反对党有强而有力的检查和制衡能力，但它同时也需要反对党谨慎行使这项权力。
In
United States, race-based politics has been a staple of Democrats and their
liberal media cohorts under president Obama.在美国，族群政治一直是奥巴马总统所领导的民主党同僚以及自由派媒伙伴的主题。But why there seems to be no objection
in an advanced state with the most liberal political landscape when the race
card is played?但为何在这一个拥有高度自由政治气象的先进国，当种族牌被推出时，却没有任何反对声浪？ The answer is simple.答案很简单。 它它已被融合在各族群平等和公平的条款内。当然您您不能阻止人们选出第一位黑人总统，否则将构成一种偏见或种族歧视罪。 In essence, every race in this world have their right to be
treated fairly and equally and as long as the races did not achieve equal
status, race-based politics will still be relevant .从本质上来讲，世界上每一个族群都应拥有公平和平等对待的权利，只要有某些族群没有达到同等的地位，那么族群政治还是有它存在的必要。
之前之前英语教数理（PPSMI）的问题，恰好是某些政党“为了反对而反对”最好的写照。最初他们反对的PPSMI的推行，一旦PPSMI被取消时，他们却反对废除PPSMI。政党Aren't
political parties supposed to have a stand?不是应该有一致的立场的吗？ How can the benefits of the people be represented when the
parties suddenly switch camp?当政党突然切换立场时，人民的利益该何去何从？This is a
classic example of " partisan" , non-constructive style that we all should avoid at all costs.这就是典型的“党派”、毫无建设性的政治意识的最佳例子，也是我们应该竭尽所能去避免的。
Conclusion 结论
Judging
from the current scenario in Malaysia, I would say we are still far away from
reaching two-party system.从目前马来西亚情况来看，我认为我们离开两党制的实现还有一段距离。实际上实际上，当各族还未有平等的权利之时，我们其实也还没有逼切需要两党制。我国现有的民主模式虽有瑕疵但还是正常运作，所以我们没有必要把它推倒重来。 Why would we want to reinvent the wheels when we already have
it
