We had better checks and balances in 'early years' - Tunku Zain

The country had better institutions and more freedoms back in the “early years” when it was led by elites who did not abuse their powers, said Tunku Zain al-Abidin Tuanku Muhriz, president of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).

“I think it is very important to identify those elites who are abusing the instruments and machinery of the state to enrich themselves, and others who do not.

“I suppose if we were to look at history, I would think that (we can) agree that in our early years, when we were by and large led by these elites (who did not seek to enrich themselves), we had better checks and balances, better leadership, we had institutions that were better. We had more freedoms,” he said.

He was speaking at a panel titled ‘How to manage pluralism and identity politics in democracies’ at a conference about democracy in Southeast Asia, in Kuala Lumpur today.

Earlier at the event, he said that Asean cannot continue to be led by political and bureaucratic elites.

“The only way we can overcome this democratic deficit is by encouraging all communities, especially the young people, to take ownership of the Asean agenda...(and) inculcate that with rule of law and human rights.

“These are the only things that can overcome the proliferation of identity politics,” he said.

This is because, he said, there are “political actors” in every country who will exploit differences for electoral benefits, such as differences in race, religion, language, class, caste, geographic regions and even the generational gap.

He also warned that a failure to address these issues will have spillover effects in neighbouring countries.

However, he later said that “elites” have a stake in democracy as well.

“They care about freedoms, they want to see their children’s opportunities secure as well,” he said. - Mkini