COMMENT The history of Malaysia is a chronicle of lost opportunities, so will another leadership change make any real difference? The BN coalition that has run the country since independence is running out of steam but is still hot on going after those who challenge it. The 1MDB fiasco that now threatens to divide the county could have been an open-and-shut case had the truth been allowed to tell its story.

In the eyes of non-political Malaysians and outsiders, the governance of the country has become a national disaster and they are compelled to take sides. They cannot help being drawn into the political turmoil to help save their country because they see the breakdown of the rule of law and dark forces superimpose their will against the national interest of their once promising nation.

A government has become its own worst enemy in not doing the right thing, in not acting without fear or favour, but appears intent on protecting its scandalised leader. No government, however strong, can govern in self-delusion. The longer the charade the quicker the country, once the epitome of progress, and now lagging behind the Philippines and Indonesia, will become a pariah state. Even the American president is distancing himself, reports say.