Public confidence in political parties dips

PETALING JAYA: Public confidence in political parties, be it from the ruling Barisan Nasional or opposition Pakatan Rakyat, has declined, according to an international intelligence organisation’s 2010 report.

The Economist Intelligence Unit 2010 democracy index ranked Malaysia 71 out of 167 countries, representing a slight deterioration compared with the 2008 index, in which Malaysia was ranked 68.

“The deterioration partly reflects a gradual erosion of civil liberties and political culture in the past year or so. A lack of public confidence in the junior partners within the BN governing coalition, and especially those representing ethnic minorities, persists.

“Voter confidence in political parties has been further undermined by an increase in politicking by members of the opposition alliance as well as by figures in BN.

“Such activity is expected to increase as members of parliament make preparations for a possible early general election in 2011,” the report revealed.

However, it said Malaysia continued to score fairly well in the electoral process and pluralism category.

“Elections are generally free, and voters are not subject to serious intimidation. The transfer of power is orderly between the leaders of Umno, which continues to dominate the political scene and has been part of every coalition government since independence,” the report said.

Malaysia scored 6.19 points out of the maximum 10 indicating weakness in the country’s democracy. In 2008, the nation’s score was 6.36 out of 10 points.

Civil liberties remain a concern

The Economist Intelligence Unit also noted that Malaysia’s restrictions on civil liberties remained a concern.

The report said problems relating to the media persist in Malaysia, with the print and broadcast media being subject to censorship.

Despite the government’s promise not to interfere in the electronic media, in the past year or so charges have been filed with increasing frequency against anti-government authors, it added.Malaysia also scores relatively poorly in the civil liberties category of the index, mainly because of the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial and has been used against opposition politicians and journalists,” read the report.

The report also said that the opposition had pledged to dismantle the ISA if it comes to power, but the current government appears keen to keep it intact.

Malaysia scored 6.10 points on its electoral process, 6.79 on the functioning of the government, 5.58 on political participation, 6.25 on political culture and 5.88 on civil liberties. All points are evaluated on a scale of 0-10. - FMT