COMMENT | Malaysia has been running a high fever ever since the Pekan man and his bedfellows took over the care of the country in 2009. In subsequent years, healthy cells were destroyed as one grave illness after another coursed through the veins of this once-promising land.

Hopes of recovery dimmed with each passing day because the strongman stubbornly continued to craft policies and introduce laws inimical to the public weal.

While the “patient” lay bleeding internally, calls for change in the conduct of the government went unheeded. When the people took to the streets to seek reforms, they were roundly condemned and chased away.

Soon the realisation set in that the disease eating into the vitality of the country must have its source in the quality of its leaders. A blood test confirmed the public’s worst fear: a virus called 'kakistocracy' has been responsible for the declining health...