Democracy at Stake? Draws together information from 16 by-elections that took place in Malaysia since the 12th General Elections in 2008, in an important assessment of the current health of Malaysia’s electoral system. The chapters have been written by journalists, activists and researchers. Through painstaking data collection and detailed analysis, this volume documents the by-election process and identifies some significant flaws in the electoral system.

Key to parliamentary democracy is the question of legitimacy. If there are clean, fair and free elections, then the government can be confident in the knowledge that it is in power with the backing of the people. When clean, fair and free elections do not take place, this legitimacy is simply not there and the government does not have a mandate to rule.

Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan
Co-Chairperson
Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 (Bersih 2.0)