Spring is coming?

Since 2011, Spring is without fail associated with revolution, people power and democracy. In Malaysia, Spring has no meaning, neither climatically nor politically. Abdullah Badawi was a hope for change, as was Najib Razak with his calls for transformation and reform. Yet, despite their pledges for further democratisation, liberalisation and transformation, Reformasi, yet alone Revolusi, is yet to come.

When reading the website of the Prime Minister's Office, especially the page describing the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), two things are immediately noticeable: the word rakyat appears as often as acronyms (the Malaysian government loves acronyms). After reading the summary we learn that Malaysia is, more than anything, a ‘rakyat-cracy’. The semantic trick used here is to symbolically echo another word that is more often used by the opposition than by the government: Democracy. Demo-cracy is simply defined by the power of the people (demos – people, kratos – power): in Malaysia, elections have been organised since before independence and institutions were created to represent the people's will. Elections are one of the first parameters to determine the level of freedom existing in a country. International organisations and institutions, that have de facto a quasi-monopoly in determining which country is – and which country is not – a democracy, look essentially at three elements: elections, civil society and institutions. Malaysia has them all. Yet, Malaysia is rarely called a democracy, but an illiberal democracy, young democracy or competitive or electoral authoritarian state. Most observers, analysts or researchers are puzzled by the nature of this political hybrid. Over the last few months and with the increase in political and financial scandals, Malaysia's system of governance has appeared more than ever as a nondemocracy.

Malaysia is a country where a clown is a threat; a threat to a political farce. A country in which freedom of expression is constrained by the manipulation and abuse of the law by the ruler cannot be called a democracy. Some would argue that Malaysia's march towards democracy is reversing, others that the process of development of democracy is inhibited.4 But was Malaysia ever marching towards democracy?