YOURSAY ‘Malaysia has all the democratic institutions but they have been badly compromised in the practice of democracy.'

Malaysia rejects 'false democrat' tag on Najib

2cts worth: Some people can't face the truth. Globe and Mail journalist Mark Mackinnon, you have got it spot on.

Malaysia is a false democracy with a leader who can't think of losing power. This is justified when he choked on the question of whether he could assure a peaceful transition of power. Till now he has no answer.

A simple complaint is taken as an act against the rulers. Like the Bersih street demonstration for clean and fair elections, which was taken as a plot to overthrow the regime.

With warped thinking arising from desperation, the regime has lost its senses. They know they are a goner come the election.

Ferdtan: Najib's list of reforms during the last three years was nothing but only smoke and mirrors. Who could believe any of them? Not Malaysians, certainly not Canadian award-winning jounalist Mark Mackinnon.

In fact Mackinnon went further to lump him with the unsavoury grouping which included Hosni Mubarak, Slobadan Milosevic and Vladimir Putin and called them false democrats.

Najib tried to project himself as a reformist to win the election. Sadly he has failed. It is not easy to win the hearts and minds of the people by coming up with half-baked ideas of reform. It needs sincerity on the part of the government.

From the information gathered from cyberspace, such as alternative news website Malaysiakini , the rakyat now know better and can be extremely exacting in their demands for change.

Centurion: Ouch, how truth hurts and to think all the wasted efforts and money spent on communications consultant Apco.

Bootsie: Truth is a bitter pill to swallow by false democrats. PM Najib Razak portrays himself as a democrat in the international arena.

Back home anybody who speaks the truth is victimised and "sodomised", just look at the students who speak the truth - they are hounded by the police and suspended. University lecturers are stripped of their posts. Truly a sugar-coated bullet.

Jeremy Tankh: According to Mackinnon, there are four categories of autocrats - false democrats, mad egotists, violent populists and callous capitalists, of which Najib is in the category of "false democrats".

I wonder which category Dr Mahathir Mohamad comes under?

Jesse: Malaysia has all the democratic institutions but they have been badly compromised in the practice of democracy by people who are intellectually corrupt, greedy and worship undeserved wealth at the expense of the rakyat. It takes someone impartial from outside to see the real situation.

Several of these recent so-called 'reform' laws are worse than the ones they replaced if you examine the details closely. There was virtually no consultation with the rakyat.

Najib can pretend and proclaim himself a statesman but many observers are not hoodwinked by his constant empty rhetoric.

Dr Jacob George: Now we can expect organised protests at the Canadian embassy here and perhaps even the burning of several effigies?

Lim Chong Leong: "An impressive track record by anyone's standards," said Foreign Ministry Information and Public Diplomacy Department undersecretary Ahmad Rozian Abdul Ghani.

What track record? And who is this anyone?

And "This view does not tally with the fact that the opposition won an unprecedented number of seats in the last election."

Hello, in the last election, Najib was not PM. It was Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who gave up the states which he lost. But that too after much ransacking and burning of state documents.

Quigonbond: I doubt anyone will take the undersecretary seriously. Yes, there was a slew of reforms, but all half hearted and they do nothing to truly advance free and fair elections, accountability and transparency.

In another words, the Canadian paper is right on the dot. Perhaps Najib is better than the others on the list, but Najib is not Umno, and Umno has a life of its own.

Umno is the de facto false democrat, whose position will not change until the electoral roll is cleaned up, media access liberalised and press licence requirement abolished, pronto.

Ourvotesdecide!: So why are Najib, the chief of our armed forces and the inspector-general of police (IGP) not giving a public undertaking now - that they will accept Pakatan Rakyat as the new federal government if Pakatan wins the coming 13th general glection?

What is so difficult for them to do this now? Unless, they are not prepared to give up power.

Further, Najib has even told Umno and the BN to defend Putrajaya at all costs or till their last drop of blood. In view of all this, Najib is truly a false democrat.

For example, his slogan ‘1Malaysia, people first' is but a fraud because in practice, it's the big towkays and the Umno-BN cronies who are being given top preference by Najib.

Petson01: Ah Jib Gor (Brother Najib), your credibility is long gone. In three short years, the world has seen through you.

Your ‘sifu' (master) must be very proud or maybe jealous, as you have overtaken him in record time. It's time for Malaysians to wake up and throw them out of Putrajaya.

Not Confused: The eight so-called "reforms" sound good on paper, but if one looks at the replacement legislation, or the amendments made to Acts that have been retained, the resulting legal situation is in many instances worse than before the repeal or amendments were implemented. As for electoral reforms - surely that is the biggest joke of all.

Good one, Mr Mackinnon - no doubt he will continue to watch the Malaysian political scene for a follow-up article later.

Clearwater: Even from thousands of kilometres away, Canadian journalist Mackinnon can see that emperor Najib does not wear any democratic clothes. Najib wears illusory garments woven from half-lies and half-truths.

Anonymous #00470101: Mackinnon failed to include one more thing on his false democrat tag. These leaders have no guts to debate with their opponents.

Dood: "False democracies give the impression of being freer than they really are...".

This statement nicely sums up Malaysia and works as an excellent rebuttal to the Malaysian government's response to Mackinnon's article.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .