I refer to the report Unity government: A united 'no' from Pakatan .

This is the news most Malaysians have been waiting for. The idea of a unity government was not only divisive but nonsensical in principle and practice. I mean how can you have a unity government made up of political parties that are constitutionally meant to be taking turns to form the government as the people decide?

Whither the checks and balances without which democracy does not exist? As it is, you already have a police state and if not for the Internet and a world community watching, events in the country would have resulted in a state of outright dictatorship.

A ‘unity government’ in the sense of a 'one-party rule' where a merged coalition encompassing opposition parties would have made a mockery of the inherent system of democracy. It would be a sell-out of the people and the rise of a dictatorship against the spirit of the democratic ideals envisaged by the British government when it gave the country its independence.

A ‘unity government’where power is centralised in a few would pave the way for more blatant acts of corruption and abuse of power with no viable opposition. For this reason, it behooves those who have enjoyed some degree of success to remember who put them where they are today.

Any move toward a ‘unity government’, even in the confused state it is, would be as some have rightly accused - a betrayal of the rakyat and the nation's democracy which needs to be protected from any political monopoly.

Despite the erosion of the constitutional rights of the ‘rakyat’ and the unhealthy influence of the executive over the other arms of government, in particular the judiciary, democracy in its contorted form that exists in the country is better than the ‘no democracy at all’ that a unity government would have engendered.

Whoever forms the next federal government - whether it is Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional - it is in the interest of the nation to see a reform of the political system and the people's mindset so that ultimately what results is the type of governance that ensures integrity, efficiency and fairness.

The interests of race and religon cannot be pursued in the manner they have so far been but the standards and measures have to be re-calibrated so that ultimately, the results benefit all Malaysians.

The present ethnocentric approach where the winner dictates everything is untenable and fraught with long-term failures. For example, you can't continue to impose one community's rights over others on the pretext and often fraudulent claim of representation and fighting for their rights, when the obscene picture is one of selfish personal gain.

What is superior to the notion of a unity government is an ‘equality government’ that seeks to level the economic and political playing field for all Malaysians. The aim of a united country without division is better than a united government without opposition.

No one will complain that Islam or the Malay culture is adopted as the standard for official purposes as long as no minority group is deprived of the right and freedom to find expression in their culture.

And more fundamental is the attainment of a good government which upholds the rule of law, separation of powers, and has a high regard for integrity and efficiency, and an intolerance of corrupt practices in every echelon and arm of the government and corporate sector. These are not new ideas but are urgently overdue.

Unless politicians are seen to be pursuing those and other higher aims, any talk of a ‘unity government’ can only be perceived as further trickery to improve the position of certain politicians and give them more leeway and power to be up to further mischief.