07-09-2021, 08:35 PM
![[Image: Empty-Road-Jalan-TAR-KL-Covid-19-MCO-020420-FMT-11.jpg]](https://s3media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Empty-Road-Jalan-TAR-KL-Covid-19-MCO-020420-FMT-11.jpg)
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is not on the path to being a failed state despite the current health, economic and political crises, say analysts.
Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs explained that failed statehood would entail the absence of a functioning government and the collapse of the nation’s economy.
“Typically, warlords and bandits roam free and black market economy becomes the order of the day. Both personal security as well as livelihoods are typically at great risk in such countries. Massacres and famine often follow suit,” he told FMT.
Oh said the most recent country veering towards a failed state was Haiti, which saw its president Jovenal Moise assassinated on Wednesday. Some West African countries prone to coups and civil wars are also high on the list of failed states, along with Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
In this regard, he said, Malaysia was not yet a failed state but it could see widespread unrest if it did not meaningfully stimulate its economy with structural reforms and continued to toy with a government often seen as illegitimate.
- More -