EARTHQUAKES and tsunamis can be scientifically measured. Macabre as it  is, one can even do a body count in terms of lives destroyed or saved. There is collateral damage. Indeed, even orphans.

But on May 9, much as we know, Malaysians have opted to remove Umno and Barisan National from Putrajaya, indeed, several state governments to boot. We don’t know the exact magnitude of the event. Did democracy improve or is that process subject to what Jared Diamond at Stanford University called “democratic recessions”, too? 

The late Samuel Huntington has certainly warned of democracies that come in waves, only to recede into authoritarianism. Josh Kurtlanzick called it “democracy in retreat”, that is, when the people’s expectations cannot be met, not just nationally, but globally. 

In Malaysia, some cynics averred that we are not out of the woods yet since the regime change happened after 61 years. Old habits die hard.

Take the premiership, for example. Dr Mahathir Mohammad has rightfully laid claim to being the seventh prime minister of Malaysia. And, the eighth is supposed to be Anwar Ibrahim. 

Thus, there is another transition in the offing, a game of thrones within what Robert Dalh of Yale University called the “only game in town”. 

The latter is democracy but embedded in democracy is internecine intra party struggle and what his colleague, James Scott, a Malaysian expert called, log rolling, the pursuit of vested interest.

Indeed, granted that former British prime minister Harold McMillan once said that “a week in politics is eternity”, one can’t help but wonder if a two- to three-year transition in Malaysia is a realistic one. 

Thus, Malaysia has entered a period of animated suspension; where the seeming motion of moving forward through 100-day reforms and future repeat of draconians laws can also result in the ostensible regression of falling backward.

The latter is true if the transition from the seventh to the eighth premier, while clearly mapped and agreed to by all parties, is not proceeding in a sequential order to inspire confidence in the concept of pacta sum servanda (that the contract shall always remain sacred); assuming there is an inked agreement at all.

As things are, the popularity of Dr Mahathir has acquired demi-god status. To be sure, if he pulls off another major rescue of the national debt, which currently stands at RM 1.09 trillion ringgit, in the years to come, who would want the iconoclast to go from a national icon to a retired statesman? They probably want him to be at the helm forever.

But the nub of the issue is not the staying power of Dr Mahathir, or, the perpetual patience of Anwar, indeed, the rest of Pakatan Harapan.

Since 2004, at the very least, Malaysians have transformed politics, or politicians, into tradable cargoes. This is a necessary sign that democracy is alive and well. But still insufficient.

In 2004, Barisan National’s share of the seats in the parliament was 90.3%. The fifth prime  minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was returned to office with 198 seats, the biggest electoral haul ever. 

Fast-forward to the recent 2018 general election: Najib Razak’s Umno and Barisan National did not even get 40% of the popular vote. They got 36%.  

Not surprisingly, they were turfed out, as they should given the grand larceny and corruption of the state coffers.

While this is democracy at work, invariably, from the bottom up, true democracy also affirms that the incumbents at the top need to operationalise a system where the winners must always entertain, even welcome, the prospect of total defeat, not once but many times over, as the policies are improved through trial and error.

In a multiracial society, where some believe certain things are beyond reproach, such as Malay rights, the role of Islam as the official religion in the Constitution, as well as the special place of the royalty, it is clear that Malaysian democracy comes with it internal and structural constraints. Not everything can be bartered and bargained. 

Thus, while change did happen on May 9, Malaysia is only on the cusp – not centre – of it as yet. A rose by any name is indeed a rose, goes one English saying; only that when it comes to the peculiar nature of Malaysian democracy, certain caveats must always hold.

But when it comes to the consolidation of democracy, both from the people’s perspective, indeed, from the elite’s point of view, democracy is a permanent process of pushing the proverbial envelope – to making things better. 

Thus, the absolute powers in various branches of the government in the legislature, executive and judiciary must remain somewhat more brittle, so that no one is above the law. There must be checks and balances.

True democracy requires eternal vigilance not least. This is where education and enlightenment are just as vital to a one-off, indeed, one-time exercise, of one’s electoral suffrage every five or few years. Without such an understanding, Malaysians will never know how much they actually pivoted on May 9. – June 5, 2018.

* Phar Kim Beng used to write for several regional dailies with a focus on Asian diplomacy and Malaysian politics.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.