Since the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister almost three years ago, reformasi as a mass social and political movement has become almost a household name. Like it or loathe it, one is bound to hear it being whispered here and there, now and then.

It just refuses to go away. However, that many continue to urge the nation to uphold parliamentary democracy and reject street demonstrations in Malaysia despite the blatant violations of various democratic principles only goes to show that the public awareness of the abuse of power by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is far lower than one would have expected.

And those who are fighting for genuine pluralistic democracy are set to be in for a long march. To portray Malaysia as committed to parliamentary democracy, we must first examine the state of our nation.

If the BN government is truly serious about democratic rights of the populace, it must be beyond one's comprehension as to why the opposition parties are not allowed a one-third, let alone equal, share of coverage in the mainstream media.

It must have taken a lot out of Zainuddin Maidin, the parliamentary-secretary at the Ministry of Information, to admit to the Dewan Rakyat that Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM) is biased towards the government.

Given that RTM is a public institution funded by the taxpayer's money, the honourable member must find his admission one that is almost indefensible.

Election glitches

There are also clear indications that the Election Commission (EC) is biased against the opposition. The re-zoning of parliamentary constituencies in the past two decades did nothing but weaken the grassroots base of the opposition.

Since when did the EC lose its non-partisan nature is everybody's guess, but it has clearly acquired a peculiar habit of joining several opposition constituencies into one, and carving up one that constantly votes for the government into two or three to increase the number of BN seats in the Dewan Rakyat .

For all the modern technology and the self-congratulatory tone of the government about the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), the EC, citing 'technical problems', failed to register the 700,000 or so new voters in time for them to exercise their votes at the last general-election.

Being an independent body set up to supervise the electoral process, such behaviour by the EC does not speak well for the future of parliamentary democracy that many in Malaysia are anxious to safeguard.

Perhaps it does not need any reminding here that, having gone through five general-elections since Mahathir's ascension to the premiership, Malaysia is yet to thoroughly root out the issue of phantom voting.

Mysterious voters

If not for the fact that Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, Tian Chua and others from the Barisan Alternatif (BA) took the risk and stopped the busloads of 'mysterious voters' from casting their ballots, it was almost certain that the BN would have stolen the Lunas by-election last November.

Compared to many authoritarian regimes such as Myanmar, China, Vietnam and North Korea, the BN administration does appear benign, and Mahathir is quick to remind the world, albeit with obvious bitterness, that two of the Malaysian states are now ruled by Pas, an opposition party at federal level.

What conspicuously escapes him is that, immediately after Terengganu was lost to Pas, the oil royalty that was paid by Petronas to the BN state government, was revoked and is now passed into the hands of the central government.

The more pathetic example is Sabah, where the BN regime snatched the state from the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in 1994 by buying off the PBS assemblymen. Mahathir refuses to 'forgive' the Kadazan voters who have proven themselves the staunch supporters of PBS leader and former chief minister Pairin Kitingan.

It is a fat chance that the state would ever produce another Kadazan first minister so long as Mahathir remains at helm.

Executive instrument

Furthermore, the BN government has over the past three years proved itself most adverse to independent opinions. Irene Fernadez was charged in court for sedition merely for the fact that the social support group, Tenaganita, of which she is the director, was bold enough to fight for the cause of the migrant workers.

Earlier this year, the nation was so puzzled as to why the prime minister and others in his cabinet should have devoted so much time and energy to demonise, ad nauseam, malaysiakini , the on-line news portal that refuses to toe the government line.

Should something similar happen, say, in the United Kingdom or Germany, it could well have triggered the downfall of the ruling party.

As if the subservient court is incapable of dealing with mounting social discontent, the Internal Security Act (ISA), its raison d'etre being to secure the nation against the now dissolved Malayan Communist Party (MCP) notwithstanding, has been turned into a powerful executive instrument by the BN government.

Time and again, it is used against political opponents of Mahathir from all sections of the society, Anwar Ibrahim being the most prominent example, but also the reformasi activists currently being detained incommunicado under the Act.

Hishammudin Rais, the 'non-governmental individual (NGI)' in his own right who popularised the term pilihan jalanraya (street choice), is among them.

The police can, in the absence of concrete evidence, arrest at will whoever is deemed 'dangerous' by the state. Yet it was not so long ago that the government stood idly by when some Umno youth leaders threatened to burn down the Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur should the latter refuse to apologise for having publicly promoted the Malaysian Chinese Organisation Election Appeals Committee (Suqui).

Silencing dissent

The recent arrests of the opposition leaders and social activists under the ISA confirms the fear of many that the BN government, and Umno in particular, has begun to silence dissenting voices at all costs, as its position on many controversial issues is simply untenable.

With the media, the mainstream press, the judiciary, the Election Commission and the police force all in the firm control of the BN government, plus the effectiveness of the ISA, as unashamedly claimed by Mahathir himself, the opposition and the non-governmental organisations are facing a daunting task in making democracy truly work for the rakyat .

Come election, the BN will cheekily ask for a two-third majority from the electorate so as to 'ensure a smooth running of the government'.

But we have had a chief minister who brought with him millions of ringgit in cash into Australia and got caught, putting the country to shame. A transport minister under whose administration the nation witnessed the massive increase of lesen terbang (unregistered licenses) .

A health minister who refused to resign following the biggest medical scandal of JE, in which more than 100 lives were lost; and a de facto Law Minister whose Doctorate degree rested on a thesis that argued for the complete repeal of the ISA, but has just made clear the need to retain the evil law.

The nation stands helpless in the face of all these ministers who are accountable to nobody but the prime minister, for the democratic rights have been denied in many aspects thanks to the 'stable' two-third parliamentary majority enjoyed by the ruling coalition.

Simply put, the power of check and balance has been severely curtailed.

Voting exercise

Slowly, we are being shaped into believing that democracy is merely a voting exercise that comes every five years, after which we should all go back to practising our professions and taking care of the family, resting assured that the nation's best interests will be safe in the hands of the ruling elite.

In view of the above situation, no one in his right sense should come to the conclusion that the full spirit of participatory democracy is manifested under the BN government. Let us be very clear, that the democratic space in Malaysia is now becoming more and more limited.

Those who dance to the tune of the government that, once demonstrations are allowed, chaos and violence will ensue, have themselves perhaps not been to one. To them, I will recommend the book Lawan Tetap Lawan , which is in essence a chronicle of social movements and political struggles over the past few decades.

Reformasi did not begin with Anwar Ibrahim, it was born with the nation's struggle for Merdeka (Independence) from the British and has survived the merciless onslaught launched by the Alliance and then the BN governments.

Growing phenomenon

Democracy is not merely about going to the polls and casting ballots. More importantly, it is about keeping the right to participate in policy-making and the power to revoke the mandate of the government should it fail in its duty to act according to the people's interests.

And it may be appropriate to note here that the right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in the Federal Constitution. If such an act was anti-social, why should it have been provided for under the nation's highest law in the first place?

The success of the peaceful rally at the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) office on April 14 this year, is an exercise of democratic rights par excellence.

For the first time since its formation, Suhakam is made to experience the deep cry for freedom of speech, social justice and human rights among many Malaysians, a growing phenomenon that can no longer be ignored.

Josh Hong ended his 'miserable comfort' in London last December. He enjoys reading, writing, cycling and traveling, and hopes to further his studies in Turkey or Central Asia.