If one is surprised over Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's proposal that 'good' dictatorships are a better form of government than democracy for developing nations, it is only by this rare display of candour. This is a statement that tells us far more about the man himself than about political science in general.

You do not have to be at the high end of intelligence to notice this glaring flaw in the conception of a 'good' dictatorship. Who is to decide what is 'good' and what is 'bad'? By definition, it is the dictator himself.

Given the realities of human nature as well as the lessons of history, no society can possibly put its trust into government by dictatorship, which has the added disadvantage of being peculiarly difficult to get rid of.

The checks and balances in a democracy are designed to cope with the all too human propensity for excesses and abuses, the very checks and balances that Mahathir has rendered ineffective in Malaysia's democracy. Specifically, he has vastly increased the power of the executive at the expense of Parliament and the judiciary. Moreover, the mass media, frequently called the Fourth Estate, has been effectively muzzled.

Far from exercising their responsibilities as checks and balance, Parliament, the judiciary and the mass media have respectively become the rubber stamp, tool of oppression and propaganda machine of the executive. During Mahathir's tenure, the Conference of Rulers has also been stripped of whatever reserve power they once possessed.

The dismantling of Malaysia's democratic framework has led predictably to executive excesses and its gross abuse of power. We saw this during the destruction of Anwar Ibrahim, and we are seeing it now in the detention of the ISA 10 under the flimsiest of excuses.

Where indeed are the checks and balances? The speaker refuses to let Parliament discuss the matter, the media is silent and the judiciary bends backwards to support the executive. And, to top it all, Mahathir applauds the arrests as being very 'good' for the country. One can only observe that he certainly relishes his role as 'good dictator'.

So thorough has Mahathir been in his consolidation of power that there is now nothing he cannot get away with. He can even cancel the 2004 general elections if he looks like losing - it doesn't matter on what pretext because Parliament will rubber-stamp, the media will play up a non-existent national crisis and the judiciary will declare it lawful. As for the King, he will only be able to sit and wait to be advised - by the prime minister, of course.

For too long, we have been silent while Mahathir steals our democratic rights one by one. The recent ISA arrests exhibit just how silent the greater part of Malaysian society is over so disgusting an abuse of power.

On the other hand, those who are silent might as well save their voices. The sad truth is that it may already be too late to save the country's democracy.