COMMENT | In a country of leaders who would rather stay in power forever, having two resignations in one week must be disorienting. However, the resignations of Muhyiddin Yassin and Azalina Othman Said were not the same. There were procedural and substantive differences.

The former was constitutionally required to resign after losing majority, whereas the latter was not. The former received widespread public pressure to resign after months of failed governance, whereas the latter voluntarily did so without coercion.

Azalina’s resignation is timely because it forces us to reassess the meaning of power...