Malaysia tops Asean countries in democracy index

Malaysia has been ranked highly among Asian countries in an annual study on democracy by London-based financial journal The Economist, although it is still grouped as a “flawed democracy” alongside the US and several major Western democracies.

Malaysia emerged tops among the 10 Southeast Asian nations with an overall score of 7.24 in the annual Democracy Index issued by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the Economist’s research division.

It was also ranked sixth among 28 countries in Asia and Australisia, coming behind New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, South Korea and Japan.

Its Asean neighbour Timor-Leste was not far behind with a score of 7.06, followed by Indonesia (6.71), the Philippines (6.62) and Singapore (6.23).

Globally, Malaysia is ranked 39th out of 167 countries, topped by Norway, New Zealand and Finland, with North Korea, Myanmar and Afghanistan placed at the bottom.

The index is based on five areas to reflect a country’s democractic process: elections, functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.

Malaysia was given a high score of 9.58 for electoral process and pluralism, 7.86 for functioning of government, 7.22 for political participation, 6.25 for political culture, and 5.29 for civil liberties.

The index also classifies countries into four types of regime: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime or authoritarian regime.

It said that while less than half of the world’s population live in “a democracy of some sort”, only 6.4% live in a “full democracy”.

Malaysia has been categorised as a flawed democracy, alongside 53 other countries including the US.

The index defines a flawed democracy as a country that has free and fair elections and where basic civil liberties are respected despite problems such as infringements on media freedom.

It said many countries were given lower scores this time due to the various restrictions and curbs on freedoms to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Asia, it said, the quality of governance had been undermined by continued restrictions on individual freedoms as a result of the pandemic.

“In some places this has undermined public trust in institutions and weakened motivation for political participation,” it added.

In Malaysia’s case, it cited the nationwide state of emergency declared from January to August to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“This led to the suspension of Parliament and delayed the collapse of the government headed by then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who at the time faced a vote of no confidence,” it added.

Globally, the study found that democratic standards fell in 2021 amid the pandemic and what it called growing support for authoritarianism, leaving just over 45% of the world’s population living in a democracy.

In the case of the US, it said “intense levels of political and cultural polarisation” had affected the world’s most powerful democracy.

“Pluralism and competing alternatives are essential for a functioning democracy, but differences of opinion in the US have hardened into political sectarianism and institutional gridlock,” the survey added.