What is clear amidst the welter of democratic expression and the boisterous mood of defiance in Malaysia following a series of protest marches is the extent of ineptitude and incompetence demonstrated by the government.

It is clear in the way the government argues its case against mounting discontent over issues like clean and fair elections, protection of judiciary from rogue interference and demands for freedom of worship and practice as secured in the Federal Constitution Articles 8 and 11.

Whether the government likes it or not, these issues will continue to dominate Malaysia’s political agenda in the coming elections. Malaysians are already setting the agenda for the government, but it continues to claim that it will not be swayed by such demands. The power of the people is gradually being asserted and the defence of the government is gently eroding.

The lack of confidence and total ineffectiveness of the Barisan Nasional government in articulating and debating these issues have not only become blatantly obvious, it also illustrates the extent of mediocrity among the BN cabinet ministers in offering new ideas about impending problems.

Despite BN control of the mainstream media and the Parliament and the cumulative years of experience in ruling the nation, there has been lack of vigour amongst BN national leaders in presenting the government’s stand on issues. The most that politicians would say has regards to the illegality of taking part in the marches. They say that it is not the Malaysian way, that protestors have failed to use the right channels to express their grievances and has tarnished the country’s name abroad.

However, it must be acknowledged that one senior minister, S Samy Vellu, has produced figures and statistics to defend his stand as reported in the Sunday Star , Malaysian Indians have achieved much, more needed . Although the statistics on the socio-economic position of the Indians reported appear to be impressive, it still fails to settle other questions relating to the broader problem of development affecting all Malaysians.

While income is an important variable in measuring the development status of people in a country, there are other indicators including: literacy rate, life expectancy, infant mortality levels, accessibility to health care and clean water, availability of credit facilities and housing, primary school enrolment rates, access to technology, fertility rates and other factors that enhance the individual quality of life must be considered in assessing the achievement of development within a country. In addition, the inter- and intra-ethnic inequality must also be assessed if the government is serious about addressing these lingering issues.

The question is not how well one ethnic group is doing compared to the others but how much better it is doing compared to previous years. It is a question of how effective the policies are in enhancing the lives of all Malaysians.

There needs to be more attention and better policy articulation by the government beyond invoking the expected benefits of the Ninth Malaysia Plan if it seriously wants to defend its position and address the issues raised by Malaysians over the recent months.