Advance or retreat?
Many political analysts predicted that the 2008 general election was the worst case and the BN would be able to rise from the bottom. The MCA believed in the prediction and thus, passed the motion of not joining the Cabinet if the party performed worse than the previous election. Umno, MCA, Gerakan and other BN component parties must now adjust their mentality and face up to the new political situation, particularly the thorny political fanaticism.
Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily
The election result is a wake-up call. The BN’s response and reform will affect the future political development.
To reconcile the political tsunami effects brought by the 2008 general election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak introduced the 1Malaysia concept, the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), and implemented legislative reforms since he took over the office in April 2009. However, it did not work as expected and a greater tsunami was set off in the recent general election. Najib must adjust his transformation plans to cope with the rising public opinion and face the stronger Pakatan Rakyat.
Many political analysts predicted that the 2008 general election was the worst case and the BN would be able to rise from the bottom. The MCA believed in the prediction and thus, passed the motion of not joining the Cabinet if the party performed worse than the previous election. Umno, MCA, Gerakan and other BN component parties must now adjust their mentality and face up to the new political situation, particularly the thorny political fanaticism.
The recent remarks made by several new ministers have reflected the tests faced by Najib’s administration.
Education and Higher Learning Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh stressed that although there is no MCA representative in the Cabinet, the government guarantees fair treatments for schools of various mediums, including Chinese schools.
One of the demands of urban voters is fair governance and thus, regardless of whether there is a MCA representative in the Cabinet or not, the BN must fairly treat all racial groups to highlight the 1Malaysia spirit. Whether they can correct the racial mindset of officials or not would be the first test of the new Cabinet.
In terms of anti-corruption, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan said that time will tell whether he is a lame duck minister.
The anti-corruption work cannot just rely on a minister, but a sound mechanism. The BN must come up with anti-corruption performances before the next general election or Low’s commitments would end up as a satire, and time will prove nothing.
As for the repeatedly postponed goods and services tax (GST), Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala has proposed that the tax rate should be set at 7%. It might imply that the implementation of the GST is imperative.
However, they should not rely only on taxation to reduce the fiscal deficit and repay national debt. Instead, expenses must be reduced, corruption must be curbed, waste must be avoided and new sources of revenue must be opened up. They could restore the support of urban voters only if they have a proper financial management mechanism and stop the populist-style money distribution.
On April 19, 2012, the government deferred the second reading of the Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 to another date and would it has the courage today to carry out a tax structure reform?
In terms of education issues, Idris said that the ministry would not rush to develop a new educational programme while Education and Higher Learning Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that the 2013-2015 National Education Blueprint has achieved some results 100 days after its implementation.
Education is the basis of national strength and prosperity. Therefore, we should move towards high-quality education. However, political interference and frequent policy changes in recent years have led to the decline of education standard. Therefore, education policy should be amended to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and retain talents.
How about the Lynas rare-earth refinery issue? International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Najib has reminded him that it is still an issue and the ministry will actively approach all involved parties to ensure that the issue is properly addressed.
Voters of that constituency have made a resolution on the rare-earth refinery issue with their votes and the government should respect the public opinion.
In short, reform should not be done superficially, but thoroughly. Whether the BN will advance or retreat, we might have to wait until after the Umno party election to get the answer.
