Unity government’s missteps may prove costly if left unchecked

K. Parkaran, Free Malaysia Today

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. My apologies for repeating this much over-used axiom created by the 19th century British politician and historian Lord Acton.

In simple words, this is an observation that a person’s sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases. Malaysians have witnessed this time and again, but our politicians appear to have not learnt from past lessons.

The formation of the unity government gave rise to hopes of seeing a much reformed prime minister and Cabinet, but recent actions have been gradually chipping away at those hopes.

Some decisions have made many Malaysians wonder what on earth was on their leaders’ minds. For example, the decision by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to appoint his daughter Nurul Izzah as his senior advisor on economics and finance takes the cake.

With the kind of political experience and involvement that father and daughter have had, it would have been a no-brainer to know that the repercussions would be pretty huge, providing ammunition for trigger-happy opposition politicians and critics.

Anwar says Nurul Izzah has two degrees and will do the job pro bono. He chastised the opposition, urging them to focus on corruption and all.

Now, for God’s sake, the issue is not her qualifications or the weaknesses of the critics. It’s about appointing your daughter to a post even if she is qualified for the job.

Anyway, her knowledge and experience in the field in which she is supposed to be advising has not been proven. There are thousands of tested economists and financial experts out there who might do a better job.

Then comes the question of not announcing it on Jan 3 when she took up the job. Malaysians had to learn about it from an interview she gave to The Star. When all hell broke loose later on the social media, Anwar had to backpedal and become defensive while the public and the opposition upped their offensive.

Why the prime minister went ahead with it knowing the dire political consequences is anyone’s guess. Nurul Izzah would probably do her father and the unity government some good if she decides to resign of her own accord. That will be a real sacrifice a daughter could do for the embattled father.

There are a few who support the appointment but these were the same critics who would have torn Najib Razak apart if he had appointed his daughter Nooryana even as a lowly clerk in his office when he was prime minister.

Next we read about health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa making a two-day visit to the UK, and meeting Malaysian medical experts currently serving there to discuss healthcare reforms at home.

“Dr Zaliha is committed to implementing changes in the country’s healthcare system through discussions with Malaysian medical experts currently serving in the UK,” said a ministry statement.

Really? Just two months into the job and the minister has to travel to Oxford spending a huge sum of money to meet Malaysian medical experts serving there to change our system at home?

Are we living in some kind of wonderland? Does the minister know that many patients in Malaysia have to wait for months for surgeries and scans? Does she know they are being asked to buy some medications and implants? They need help most urgently.

The minister should instead stay home and meet the thousands of retired and serving doctors and paramedical staff. I can bet you she can learn much, much more than her three-hour chat in the UK, and at a much lower cost too.

The rush for overseas trips by ministers makes some Malaysians wonder if this is their priority two months after taking over, at a time when the rakyat are pleading for handouts and EPF withdrawals to survive.

Another example is that of human resources minister V Sivakumar, who went to Tamil Nadu, India, to attend a World Tamil Conference, and later met the chief minister of the state.

If a minister thinks this is a priority trip when Malaysian workers and the Indian community are facing huge problems in this post-pandemic period, we are in trouble. What have we benefited from this? Zilch!

Agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu’s rush to Namakkal, also in India, to resolve the egg shortage problem appears to be another impulsive decision as it has not brought prices down.

I was made to understand that any overseas trip by ministers must get the blessings of the prime minister.

Anwar should have issued a moratorium of at least six months on overseas trips by ministers unless absolutely necessary, such as his visits to improve bilateral and trade ties.

Do not take the voters for granted as has happened in the past or the unity government will crumble faster than the last two regimes.