COMMENT BN undoubtedly won the 13th general election by winning 133 parliamentary seats against the 89 seats secured by parties in Pakatan Rakyat. By western standards, this was a landslide victory though BN used to enjoy a super-majority (two-thirds) of the seats in Parliament prior to 2008.

As a society becomes more developed and mature, it is an almost impossible task to gain two-thirds control of the legislature.

Singapore, a super-efficient and squeaky clean state, has suffered a similar fate with the PAP's control of Parliament slowly being eroded, although it still commands a comfortable majority.

This has happened despite the impressive social and economic development of Singapore which has been transformed it into a prominent international financial centre.