In an hour long lecture at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Sarah Birch, a British professor who specializes in political ethics and electoral institutions, gave a talk entitled "Retaining power through elections: when "democracy" enables autocracy".

According to Sarah elections in countries where its transparency is in question often need to "get worse" before it finally improves. She also believes that the first past the post electoral system, which Malaysia uses, is "problematic" and singled it as the one that is most "convenient" for an authoritarian government.