Pakatan lawmakers trash NEM 2
By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
Opposition lawmakers have trashed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s much-anticipated New Economic Model 2 (NEM) report as a “disappointment”, accusing the premier of pandering again to the powerful will of Malay right-wing leaders and failing to deliver his own promises of reform.
The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders argued that the report merely comprised romantic-sounding measures that were haunted by the race-based policies of the past and was nothing less than a repeat of the contentious New Economic Policy (NEP) that ended in 1990 but furthered under the New Development Policy (NDP) initiated by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
As an example, they pointed out, one resounding factor to indicate Najib’s fear of upsetting status quo was the administration’s continued silence in the scrapping of the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target, which they noted had not been addressed in NEM 2.
One PAS MP even said that Najib’s NEM 2 had clearly been deeply influenced by Dr Mahathir himself and controversial Malay rights group Perkasa, of which the former premier is patron, which had played a pivotal role in thwarting the administration’s past attempts to reform affirmative action and promote inclusivity.
Thus, despite months of hope and anticipation, the leaders predicted that NEM 2 would eventually become yet another documented proof of the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) failure to bolster an economic turnaround.
“The entire nation was looking forward to NEM 2. It was supposed to enamour, to expound on NEM part one, which had somehow captured at least certain aspects of the nation’s expectations to turn the economy vibrant.
“But from the impression that I got, NEM 2 was watered down and mellowed by way of Najib’s commitment to change and reform on the issue of inclusivity, merits and meritocracy,” Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told The Malaysian Insider.
“It is not just about reform, but also that his approaches need to be more focused on gaining more foreign direct investments, addressing the malaise of the economy and turning Malaysia into a high-income nation,” the PAS lawmaker said.
He accused Najib of allowing himself to dither on his dreams for Malaysia through being “hassled” by Perkasa, Dr Mahathir and certain personalities within the ruling Umno party.
“They reminded him to be mindful of affirmative action so he ended up being neither here nor there. He has introduced big words, saying we are ‘market-friendly’ but they are jargons.
“When you really want to propel the economy into one that is globally competitive, it has to be on a level playing field, it has to be about opening up to more contests and competition among genuine enterprises and entrepreneurs,” he said.
Dzulkefly claimed that the NEM 2 was clearly plagued by racial considerations and contained elements of Perkasa’s influence in it.
“On the one hand you speak about opening up and liberalisation but in the same breath you stifle competition, you do not create the opportunity to allow the creation of genuine wealth and entrepreneurs,” he added.
