Today, the British voters will be choosing a new government. After keeping track of the run-up to the election for the last few weeks, I can’t help wishing that we could manage our elections in the same way, so that Malaysians could get the government they really want.

In the UK, all parties have been given as much opportunity as they wanted to campaign, with equal access to national TV, including a series of three debates between the leaders of the three main parties, so that their policies or stand on key issues could be thoroughly aired.

Although some mainstream newspapers are seen as supporting a certain party, there are others that support a different party, and many that simply give space to a variety of views. There is no restriction on publishing newspapers.

On the whole, the campaign speeches and TV debates focussed on important issues and policies, but there were also some quite rough attacks on the respective leaders – including the prime minister – which, however, referred only to their respective capabilities as potential government leaders.

There was no sign of police harassing candidates or supporters of any parties, or breaking up campaign rallies.

The result is that the electorate have had a fair chance to see the leaders in action, and they have a fair and quite detailed understanding of the different policies and approaches of each party, enabling them to make an informed choice when they cast their vote.

When Malaysia gained independence, we chose to adopt the ‘Westminster model’ of government and its accompanying electoral system, but over the years the integrity of that model has been seriously eroded to the point that we now have only a parody of the original.

The government leaders condescendingly tell us that we are not yet mature enough to be exposed to the real thing.

But I think we all know better: they are just scared stiff.