BY: NAZLI IBRAHIM
PETALING JAYA, DEC 9: The guided democracy currently implemented by the Malaysian Government is a legacy from the dictatorship democracy practiced in Indonesia under President Sukarno’s administration almost 50 years ago.
Pak Sako Academy Founder Najwan Halimi said that the guided democracy practiced by the government now is outdated, proving that democracy in Malaysia is still far behind compared to other countries.
“Democracy in Malaysia is still not as mature as in other developed countries. The guided democracy that we are practicing now is just the same as in the era of President Sukarno; a dictator practicing guided democracy.
“This shows that democracy in our country is still far behind compared to Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries,” he said during the ‘Demontrasi Jalanan, Baik dan Buruk?’ forum at the Menara Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) here, on December 8.
Besides Najwan, other panellists include Central DAP Youth Committee Member Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud and Strategic Communications Director in the Finance Ministry, Datuk Lokman Noor Adam.
Touching on the issue of street demonstrations, Najwan said that it is not necessarily with the intention to overthrow the government; but more as a medium of expressing disagreement and protest on certain matters.
Meanwhile, Dyana Sofya said that Umno is in fact, a party born from a demonstration by the Malays against the Malayan Union at that time.
She said demonstrations organised by the Coalition of Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) in the past several years had also taken place peacefully.
“For example, we can see how Adam Adli tried to pacify an old man and prevent him from trying to ramp into police barricades in the BERSIH 5 recently.
“Adam explained to the old man that BERSIH demonstrations are intended to send a message to the government and not to create chaos,” she said.
Guided democracy a legacy from Sukarno’s dictatorial democracy
