Following last weekend's general election, Malaysia finds itself firmly among south-east Asia's promising democracies that afford space for strong opposition voices to rein in their governments.
The impressive showing of the opposition parties at Saturday's poll saw the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, lose its dominant grip on power after 40 years. Opposition lawmakers won 82 out of the 222 seats in the parliament, a dramatic increase from the 19 seats they had held in the outgoing legislature. The opposition also gained control of five of Malaysia's 13 states.
Till this month's poll, the BN had continued to enjoy a two-thirds majority in Parliament, consequently giving rise to strong autocratic leaders like the former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled the country for 22 years.
But the current leader, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, faces a new political reality, after the governing coalition he led won 140 seats, a little over 60 percent of the constituencies.