Umno’s relevance has further
deteriorated - no support from non-Malays, and strongly diminished
support from the Malays. In fact, where PKR and Amanah stood in Malay
areas against PN, they seemed to get more support from Malays than when
BN stood against PN.
The plight of Umno president Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi and by extension, Najib Abdul Razak did not resonate with the
Malay grassroots and became irrelevant in the elections. That must cause
a rethink of Anwar’s strategy of teaming up with Umno for Malay
support. He needs to think of something else.
But Umno’s influence
in the Madani government will now go down - some will consider this
positive. At the same time, it reduces the chances of Umno doing a deal
with others to upset the fragile balance of the coalition government.
It’s clear that trying to
please everyone ahead of the elections does not work. But now Anwar has
an opportunity to really do something. With both federal and state
elections out of the way and little threat that he may be toppled, he is
now truly in the driver’s seat and can now be the master of his own and
the country’s destiny.
He has some four years to turn Malay
sentiment around and he can’t afford to hurt the sentiments or the
welfare of the non-Malays who are his main support base. The only way to
overcome this is economic progress which helps everyone - he has to
take concrete steps to grow and improve the economy, and I mean
concrete. The time for showmanship and grandstanding is over.
The
so-called Madani economy direction announced before the state polls has
seven targets: Malaysia being in the top 30 of the world’s largest
economies; top 12 in the Global Competitiveness Index; labour income
constitutes 45 percent of total income; women participation in the
labour force reaches 60 percent; top 25 in Human Development Index; top
25 in Corruption Perception Index; and fiscal sustainability with a
fiscal deficit of 3 percent.
But there is no statement of the
following: What is the current starting point? By when and what is the
timeline? How? Through what steps will it be achieved? What is the
income target? If these are not disclosed and concrete measures are
taken, it’s meaningless. It’s just talk.
There is much lip about
corruption, for instance, but very little action. Talk to businesses,
especially local small businesses, and you will learn how corruption at
local authorities and enforcement agencies block them at every turn in
running their businesses - restaurants, pubs, and service providers.
The
first order of things is to remove corruption and stop it from
preventing businesses from operating efficiently. This is so basic.
There
are many other things too numerous to mention - education for instance -
nothing has been done to improve education for the masses whose
relative standards have declined tremendously. If Anwar can show
tangible progress in these areas over the next four years, most people,
including Malays, will vote for this Madani government.
The ringgit and the stock market both closed lower before the
elections, an indication of the market’s defensive view that little will
be done to improve the economy. But confidence can be improved if the
right measures are taken for the short and medium term.
It depends
very much on what the government does in the months ahead. If it can
shake its lethargy and talk, and start doing something real, then things
will start moving, including the market and the ringgit.
Suggestions
Here are 10 things which can be done quickly with little or no harm to the majority of the rakyat:
Really
do something about corruption. If corruption involved in licensing,
monitoring, and approvals is removed in favour of fairness, the state of
corruption will be improved immediately. This requires guts but it
needs to be done soon.
Change
in monetary policy to strengthen the ringgit. Singapore’s dollar has
been strengthening for years through an informal peg to the US dollar
which is adjusted, mostly for a stronger Singapore dollar, periodically.
Otherwise, inflation and erosion of real income will always be a
problem in Malaysia. A weak currency is always a subsidy for exporters,
most of whom do not share their good fortune with their workers.
Re-impose GST
to raise revenues. Goods and services tax can be reimposed with
exemptions on vital goods. Previously some 200 goods and services were
exempted from tax to alleviate the poor’s suffering. Despite the removal
of GST, prices never dropped before showing the lie that GST caused
prices to rise.
With better revenue
streams and needless expenditure eliminated, the federal government will
be better able to spread spending around to the least developed areas
and raise living standards. Instead of playing politics, the federal
government should help all states with reasonable projects,
infrastructure etc to ensure fair and equitable development. If it’s
good, the states are unlikely to decline them.
For too long we
have been tied to race-based solutions. The simplest way around this is
to help everybody. The Malays and other bumiputera are the most
disadvantaged - if you help everyone who is disadvantaged, they will be
helped the most. There is no need to discriminate. Make it
all-inclusive, that is the way to get support from everyone. And the
Madani government have just four years to show something.
Harapan-BN
and their partners have a clear majority at the federal level for the
next few years - they have the mandate, and there is no need to sign any
pact with anyone. The question is can they use it wisely? If they
don’t, PN will make further strides ahead come the next elections.
It
is good for Malaysia that Harapan-BN is under great pressure to
perform. And the wisdom of the electorate is again demonstrated at the
polls. They must rise to the challenge or eventually perish like Umno
before them. They should because they can. Why waste this golden
opportunity?
