Yesterday's 'coffee shop' talk revolved around this issue: by issuing the top-down quit ‘order’ (a strong word at that), is this yet another tangible and shrewd step to recover, reassert and reestablish the power that was whittled away during the immediate past PM's regime?

Understandably, some segments of the public have expressed great concern over the failure of the institution concerned to first and foremost order all the wakil rakyat back to the state assembly to take a vote to establish which party commands the confidence of the assembly, and only then return to the institution for a decision.

It is strongly felt that such a decision would better respect and uphold the democratic process and ideals and voice of the rakyat in principle and practice.

Further, have the lines of authority of the parties (represented by the wakil rakyat) and the institution concerned been clearly defined? If not, and if there remains grey areas, what could or should be done?

How will the parties including the institution concerned seize the opportunities of the day to make ‘a bad law good’, ‘an unclear law clearer’ and ‘a good law even better’ all for the greater good of the nation and the rakyat, and not for any particular individual or group of people?

Or will there be more maneuvers and compromises going forward, with each coalition seeking to outdo each other and woo the revered institution, for their own advantage, without reflecting deeply on the potential adverse impact on democracy?

How will this impact the process to take democracy to a higher level? How will this development, if it were to materialise, affect the nation's stability, development and welfare?

What would be the implications in the future for the rakyat and democracy, regardless of which political coalition is governing in any of the states for that matter, as well as the nation going forward?

How will this precedent be interpreted in future cases, if the courts were to uphold the change - over the governing authority, which has been 'legitimised' by the institution but which is being contended by others?

On a related issue, will there be a movement for a calm bipartisan approach to develop and promulgate legislation to get rid of the political cancer and ban ‘political frogs’ that are plaguing the nation's well- being, stability and development?

What else will it take to further advance the fledgling democratic process, notwithstanding the current temporary setback? Towards this, the media is a powerful influence in nation-building.

It is hoped that the media will continue to carry articles and undertake programmes that will help promote a maturing and properly-working democracy in the country for the greater good of all concerned - the royalty, the nation and the rakyat.