Malaysia's election scandals

We usually associate one party states with authoritarian governments like the former Soviet Union, China, and Vietnam. Surprisingly there are so called democratic states that have been ruled by a single party: Mexico and the PRI for 75 years, Singapore and the PAP since independence, the LDP of Japan for 54 years and the United Malay Organization the current ruling party which has just been reelected for the 13 time since independence. In almost every case these political parties have ruled with impunity while using various methods to marginalize the opposition. Be it with draconian laws or imprisonment without trial or in the case of Japan and the LDP flagrant gerrymandering.

There were two main personalities in this election, and Razak was one of them. He has has been Malaysia's prime minister since 2009. At 23, he became the youngest member of parliament in Malaysian history and quickly rose to prominence. He is part of a political dynasty, with his father and uncle both former prime ministers. Under his leadership, the government repealed the controversial Internal Security Act. But critics say the new laws remain repressive and still allow for abuses. Najib also promised to reform pro-Malay policies, though many of them remain in place. Meanwhile, for Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition candidate, it has been a long journey that has taken him to both sides of Malaysia's political divide. Anwar is a former deputy prime minister himself, serving under Mohathir's government from 1993 to 1998. He was sacked after falling out with Mohathir over the need to crackdown on corruption. He has since battled charges for sodomy for which he was convicted, but eventually cleared. Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia, but Anwar has always maintained the cases were politically motivated.

It's clear cut, Najib Razak should be ashamed of himself, you [Razak] talked about this particular elections, you promised reforms but Malaysia did not get a a free and fair elections and it really is a flawed democracy at best. Nurul Izzah Anwar, MP for the People Justice Party