“If individuals do not occupy their legitimate position, then it will be occupied by a god or a king or a coalition of interest groups. If citizens do not exercise the powers conferred by their legitimacy, others will do so.”

- John Ralston Saul, 'The Unconscious Civilisation'

COMMENT | The short answer is yes.

What prompted this article was a late-night call from a political operative who in a Trumpian diatribe, went on a rant that if Umno-BN won this election, it would still be an illegitimate government.

As someone who has claimed that the current government post-Sheraton Move is an “illegal government”, I am not gun shy in my polemics (I have never claimed that what I do is anything else) but preempting an electoral loss by claiming the winner is an illegal government is just ludicrous and frankly undemocratic.

This would mean that the only time Malaysia will have a legitimate government is if the opposition won. If that is not out of the Trump-fascist playbook, I do not know what is.

Umno holding the election now is a political strategy, and while morally repugnant, it is not incumbent on Umno or any...