Malaysia gets a second shot at real democracy under Anwar
Malaysia now gets a second go at economic and institutional reforms, while building a democracy that can survive in a society riven by deep divisions on race, religion, geography and class.
A big question after Malaysia’s 2018 election was whether the country had embarked upon a transition to democracy after the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s first election defeat.
Over the decades of BN rule Malaysia became a textbook case of so-called “competitive authoritarianism” – a system where regime opponents are allowed to contest power, but on a playing field hopelessly stacked in favour of the incumbents thanks to their control of the legal system, the press and patronage.
