Is this what Malaysia’s history of centralism has led to?
Something that Malaysians have had to realise in recent months is that political power in the country has over the years become so centralised that local governance is in real danger of disappearing altogether.
Even the collection of solid waste – something one would think is best managed at the local level – is now under the control of the federal government. Centralism, by its very nature, distances power from the people. In the process, it increasingly brings benefits to those with ties to the central government.
One could in fact argue that the voter revolt against the Barisan Nasional in 2008 was a collective rejection of the ills of political centralism, and that it intuitively sought to force that unhealthy situation to the surface.
That, it has succeeded in doing.
