Malaysian voters tossed the corrupt Najib Razak out of office despite efforts by his party to sway the result. A former dictator is back in charge, about to free his onetime political foe from jail.
Participants in the latest organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections in Malaysia will face a repressive state apparatus as well as an intimidating counter-movement known as Red Shirts.
In Malaysia, disgruntlement and promise of change tends to result in the retention of the status quo. Enthusiastic reformers (pretenders or otherwise) are noisier rather than effective. Voters, at the…