Malaysia climbs EIU democracy index to highest rank ever

 

Malaysia has climbed four rungs up the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s democracy index 2020 and has achieved its highest rank ever.

The country is currently ranked 39 out of 167 countries ranked by the EIU, a research division of the firm which publishes The Economist magazine.

"Political stability in Malaysia has deteriorated since the departure of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister in March 2020.

"However, improvements in electoral process and pluralism have resulted in more democratic political institutions," the EIU said in a report published today.

At 39, Malaysia is behind Latvia and ahead of Panama. In the Asia and Australasia region, Malaysia is ranked sixth - behind South Korea and ahead of Timor-Leste. The country is ranked highest among all Asean nations.

The EIU scored Malaysia 7.19 out of a maximum of 10 and classified the country as a "flawed democracy", alongside the likes of France, the US, Singapore and Guyana.

Where Malaysia fared well was in "electoral processes and pluralism" and was given a score of 9.8 - the same score given to Switzerland and beating out the likes of South Korea (9.17) and Japan (8.75). This score is up from 9.17 in 2019.

Scores for "functioning of government", "political participation", and "political culture" remained unchanged at 7.86, 6.67, and 6.25 respectively

Where Malaysia fared poorly was in "civil liberties" and was given a score of 5.59 - the same score attained by Israel, Tunisia and Lesotho - down from 5.88 the year before.

The EIU lauded Taiwan as one of the best performers on its rankings, climbing from 31st in 2019 to 11th in 2020.

Taiwan, Japan and South Korea were upgraded to "full democracies" in the report, from "flawed democracies" previously.

"Taiwan went to the polls in January 2020, and the national elections demonstrated the resilience of its democracy at a time when electoral processes, parliamentary oversight and civil liberties have been backsliding globally.

"There was a strong voter turnout, including among the younger generation, to elect the president and members of the Legislative Yuan (Parliament). Overall, the country seems to have concluded that a well-functioning democracy represents the best means of safeguarding its future," the EIU said in the report. - Mkini