As the clock ticks fast, Anwar might not have the luxury of time to undertake reforms

Even if there are reforms, there is no way that the unity government is going to win back the support of the Malays. Because Anwar is so obsessed with Malay support, he has forgotten about the non-Malays or assumes that the DAP is there to ensure their continued support.

Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy, Focus Malaysia

IT IS well and good to talk about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s approach to broad national issues and the promised reforms.

Someone recently argued that the unity government is not about who gets what and under what circumstances but the authoritative allocation of values. Such an understanding seeks to encapsulate the divergences in the understanding of politics.

However, to say that the Madani government must be given the time to embark on reforms, I am not sure how much time is needed. Even for a start, the government has not seriously contemplated about reforms let alone the timeframe for their implementation.

The cliché that “Rome was not built in one day” is most inappropriate in the defence of the Anwar’s government. Those who built Rome might have had the luxury of time but certainly not Anwar’s unity government.

Nobody is denying that Anwar needs the full one term and beyond to implement the badly needed reforms.

With Anwar having been in office for nearly nine months, it would certainly be a Herculean task to expect him to implement reforms in the administration of the country and in critical areas such education, management of resources, separation of powers and others.

In fact, given the long rot under the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, Anwar might have to go beyond the simple and meaningless reforms. The entire system has to be overhauled.