COMMENT | Malaysians at this general election face a choice. On the one hand is the proven track record of BN under the leadership of caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Since he took office in 2009, Malaysia’s gross national income has increased by more than 50 percent, 2.7 million jobs have been created, unemployment and inflation have been kept low and poverty reduced significantly. Indeed, the Malaysian economy is growing at such a fast rate that the World Bank had to increase its estimates for the nation’s growth three times over 2017, and the final figure, 5.9 percent, outstripped all their forecasts.

In addition, Najib introduced the most far-reaching measures since independence to strengthen free speech and democracy. For example, the Internal Security Act was repealed; the State of Emergency that had existed for over 60 years ended; media freedom was increased by scrapping restrictions on newspaper publishing licenses; the Universities and University Colleges Act was reformed to allow undergraduates to participate in political activities; and the Peaceful Assembly Act was passed, for the first time enshrining in law the right to peaceful protest...