COMMENT | Malaysia is getting better

COMMENT | It may not seem that way, but Malaysian democracy has progressed. Amidst the dismay over the recent political wranglings and twists and turns, there are valuable lessons we have learnt as a society in our journey as a democratic nation.

What are some of these lessons?

Lesson #1: Changing government peacefully

A peaceful transition of government cannot be taken for granted. When five state governments were won by the federal Opposition in 2008, there was fear of unrest and talks of a “State of Emergency” being declared to deny the result.

But other than some shredded documents and cleaned-out offices, the state governments changed hands without much ado. That was an important precedent that served us well in 2018 when Pakatan Harapan became the federal government.

And, however one views the morality of the Sheraton Move in 2020, there was a peaceful transition yet again when it happened...