Malaysia’s government is decided through a democratic process and we are all aware of this. Every 5 years we all line up and put a mark on a ballot paper to elect Members of Parliament who would (or are suppose) to be our voice to the highest seat of government - the Prime Minister.

We have political parties who each have an agenda that we all can choose to agree or disagree with and align ourselves with. These political entities constitute a collective opinion over a given issue and represent a larger body of voters. Sometimes in order to have a bigger influence on the government, political parties form partnerships. Partnerships are then used to push agendas and policies through a majority vote in Parliament which is then announced by the Prime Minister.

All these things are consequences of a citizens choice on a piece of paper called a Ballot. So by right the person with the greatest power is not the Elected Member of Government but rather the one holding the that Ballot paper.

Malaysia has, according to a report by The Sun dated 28 February 2008 - (as of Dec 2006) 15.2 million Malaysians above the age of 21 but only 10.3 million are registered as voters. Of course this takes into account dead voters, postal voters and (the in-famous) phantom voters.

10.3 million voters has the right to decide the government of the day yet because of these 10.3 million, 26 million Malaysians are not have headaches and stress related ailments. But rest assured, come the 13th General Election; the 10.3 million voters (dead and all) would have wised up and replace this current BN government.

But that is not what I want to blog about. Instead, I want to talk about the way this current BN government is acting under the leadership of Abdullah Badawi.

10.3 million voters put this person into office as the Prime Minister of Malaysia and he totally forgets about them and starts acting like he is lord and all.

A DEMOCRATIC elected government cannot act like a MONARCHY. If it did then we would not have a Prime Minister as the highest post. We would have a Caesar.

The one time a democracy acted like a monarchy was during the time of the Romans. The Caesar’s were emperors of the Roman empire yet the council were elected and they inherited the idea of Democracy from the Greeks. There was a Senate of Senators (much like America) who went through a process of election but all was ruled by Caesar.

Now, the role of Caesar was not elected but rather passed on through the family. So it acted like a monarchy. A king who passed the throne down to the first son.

Sounds eerily familiar?


Our government is elected but our MPs are ruled over by a PM who seems to think he can control or comment over everything under the sun. Our elected MPs dare not speak up for fear of this PM and his party, who seems to have the bigger say over everything in Malaysia. Thus, the PM is thinking and acting like a monarch. Even passing down an ELECTED post to a successor.

The role of Prime Minister is an elected post. The Prime Minister’s post goes to UMNO, by virtue of the fact that UMNO is the biggest political party in Barisan Nasional (4 million members) so the elected leader of UMNO assumes the role of Prime Minister.

So, if UMNO loses its grip on government and Pakatan Rakyat takes over than the head of Keadilan (as head of the opposition) would become Prime Minister. Something to look forward to and it may not have to be Anwar Ibrahim eventhough he is trying to get back into parliament.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has alluded that the election petition for the Kedah parliamentary seat of Kulim-Bandar Baharu, which is scheduled to be heard on Aug 19, could pave the way for his return to Parliament.

Source: Malaysiakini

Back to our story. So the Prime Minister’s post is elected yet he acts like a monarch. Naming a successor and even a succession plan that goes against the whole election process. By right Najib Razak has to be elected as the head of UMNO thus he may have the chance to assume the role of Prime Minister. Bare in mind, being head of UMNO does not automatically mean you become Prime Minister of Malaysia. There is no guarantee of this anyway, it is merely by virtue and consent of the other political parties in Barisan Nasional.

There is no direct passing of the baton, unless you analyze how Tun Mahathir did it. He retired and allowed his deputy, Abdullah Badawi, to assume the role and than get a majority vote from the populace to receive the role of Prime Minister.

The current turmoil in Malaysia is all down to the fact that the current DEMOCRATIC government is acting like a MONARCHY. They have forgotten the people who voted them into office. They make decisions without consulting the people nor taking into account our opinions and views as citizens of Malaysia.

The BN government and all its apparatus (police and courts of law) are mistreating the people and not serving the people. Petty squabbles that contribute nothing towards the welfare of the people are in the headlines of state run media.

For example, the Terengganu Mercedes/Proton debacle. Who cares about what car they drive to work in? I wonder how they can have the nerve to drive to work in a car bought with tax-payers money while the majority of the populace cannot even afford to buy fuel.

The BN government or any would be government ambitious political party must bear in mind, they were democratically elected and thus, what we can give them, we can also take back.

Stop acting like a MONARCHY and start working as elected representatives of the people. If the BN government cannot work in this mode than it is better for Malaysia to emulate the governmental system employed by the Romans and call our Prime Minister; Caesar.