Daim admits he cannot do it after all
The bottom-line is Pakatan Harapan cannot deliver their election promises because they over-promised and their promises were unrealistic. But they cannot admit they made a mistake so they need to put the blame on the previous government. And that is what we are seeing here. The voters are NOT going to get what Pakatan Harapan promised them. But they need the voters to be angry with the previous government and not with Pakatan Harapan.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Pakatan Harapan went overboard in their election promises. They made so much promises which they could not possibly keep if they ever came to power. And now they need to find a way out of these promises.
The discussion Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Daim Zainuddin, Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng had prior to GE14 is make as much promises to the voters as possible to ‘buy’ the votes. It does not matter whether these promises can be met or not. If Pakatan Harapan does not win the election it will not matter anyway. And if they do win the election they can always find a way out later.
When Pakatan Harapan won the election, they immediately set the wheels to renege on the election promises in motion. They came out with stories such as there are so many ‘hidden secrets’ they did not know about when they made those election promises. Malaysia’s debt is actually RM1 trillion and not RM680 billion as we had been told. And so on.
Even if that is true, how would a difference of RM320 billion change Malaysia that much?
Mahathir and Daim are taking Malaysians for a ride because they cannot deliver Pakatan Harapan’s election promises after all
Is Pakatan Harapan saying if Malaysia’s debt had been RM680 billion instead of RM1 trillion then they can deliver their election promises but since there is this ‘extra’ RM320 billion Pakatan Harapan cannot deliver their election promises after all?
Pakatan Harapan needs to explain in detail how this so-called ‘extra’ RM320 billion makes a difference between being able to deliver their election promises and not being able to deliver their election promises. Come out with a set of accounts to show how this additional RM320 billion changes everything.
Pakatan Harapan is claiming that this extra RM320 billion, which they did not know about earlier, changes everything. Without this extra RM320 billion Pakatan Harapan can deliver their election promises. But because of this extra RM320 billion they now cannot deliver their election promises.
It was only RM680 billion in May 2018 and now, just five months later, it is RM720 billion
Show us the detailed arithmetic to prove this statement.
Anyway, in the first place Malaysia’s debts are not RM1 trillion as Pakatan Harapan claims. This is a lie fabricated to give an impression Malaysia is in serious trouble. Malaysia’s debts are about RM700 billion. And compared to Malaysia’s GDP that would put the country in the ‘normal’ category and not in danger of going bankrupt as Pakatan Harapan claims.
The bottom-line is Pakatan Harapan cannot deliver their election promises because they over-promised and their promises were unrealistic. But they cannot admit they made a mistake so they need to put the blame on the previous government. And that is what we are seeing here. The voters are NOT going to get what Pakatan Harapan promised them. But they need the voters to be angry with the previous government and not with Pakatan Harapan.
Malaysia is actually healthy and is not going bankrupt as Pakatan Harapan says
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Far more difficult to revive economy now, says Daim
(Malaysiakini) – Government adviser Daim Zainuddin said it is far more difficult to revive Malaysia’s economy now, compared to his previous two stints as finance minister.
“It’s far, far more difficult and complicated this time, because it’s the (previous) government that created the problem; a lot of money was wasted and stolen,” he told Channel NewsAsia in an interview.
“I was asked to look into figures, analyse and send back to the prime minister. It will take some time before we can put the economy back to shape.”
Daim’s caution comes at a time when the World Bank has cut its 2018 GDP growth forecast for Malaysia from 5.4 percent in April to 4.9 percent, as stated in its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update for October.
The World Bank also expects Putrajaya to drastically tighten its belt by cutting government spending to just 0.4 percent of the GDP – from 5.4 percent in 2017 – to rein in on its fiscal balance.
Daim is no stranger to tough economic challenges. Between 1984 and 1991 he was roped in by then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as finance minister, and again between 1999 and 2001 following the Asian financial crisis.
After Mahathir was reappointed prime minister following the May 9 general election, he once again called upon Daim to help, this time playing an advisory role as head of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP).
The CEP interviewed 300 people – from top civil servants to bankers and head of industries – and submitted their proposals, primarily to revive the economy, on Aug 20.
This time around, Mahathir inherited a government that had racked up a debt of RM1 trillion, which Daim believes will get in the way of Pakatan Harapan’s ability to fulfil its election pledges.
He said the best way for the government to address this matter was with honesty.
“Malaysians are very kind, patient and understanding. If you explain to them, they will understand and accept.
“Deliver what you promised in the manifesto and if for any reasons you cannot, explain clearly. The people are reasonable if you are honest with them,” he said.
Daim said that among others, the CEP advised the government to list some of its assets on the stock market to generate funds.
“At the CEP, we have studied the proposal submitted to us on monetisation.
“We don’t advise to sell these assets directly to the market. Where companies are profitable, we recommend them to go for an initial public offering (IPO), create value and let Malaysians invest in these companies,” he said.
