A research project on electoral integrity from May this year revealed that Malaysia ranked 142nd out of 158 assessed countries, one step above Zimbabwe.

According to the data, Malaysia fell under the "very low/failed" category, which is the lowest out of five categories.

"Nearly all other countries in this category have experienced deep social and political instability, like Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, or have single-party systems, like Vietnam, that preclude meaningful electoral competition.

"Neither of these is true for Malaysia, making it a clear outlier in the category," said political science researcher Kai Ostwald in a 2017 academic paper titled "Malaysia's Electoral Process: The Methods and Costs of Perpetuating Umno Rule"...