Govt’s hands tied to undo NEP, says Jomo

With the coalition government comprising various parties, economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram says the bigger issue is keeping Putrajaya together.

(FMT) – The current federal administration is unable to undo policies perceived to be controversial that resulted from the New Economic Policy (NEP) as it is a coalition government comprising various political parties, says an economist.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram, an adviser at Khazanah Research Institute, said the administration led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was more focussed on keeping the government together.

“One has to recognise that this is a very unwieldy and difficult (government) to form. I don’t think we can talk about a simple party manifesto.

“The (bigger issue) is keeping the coalition going. It’s part of the challenge,” said Jomo during a panel discussion at the launch of a book titled ‘Malaysia’s New Economic Policy in its First Decade’ at Gerakbudaya here today.

He was responding to a question from an audience member, who asked if Anwar’s administration can undo “all the bad features of the NEP”.

Jomo said the government could take a leaf from the city that originally inspired the “Madani” concept – the historical Medina city in Saudi Arabia.

“When you think about ‘Madani’, the slogan refers to Medina (city). Basically, what happened in Medina centuries ago was that Prophet Muhammad was a refugee who went to Medina.

“He could have gone and fought with the Jews and Christians, but instead, he formed a coalition, similar to the one you have now (the Madani government).

“This is the challenge now: how do you manage a coalition (of various parties) and try to get to a better place from here? There isn’t an easy answer,” he said.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj said Anwar appeared unwilling to use his power to address the perceived unfairness caused by the NEP.

He said Anwar, the Pakatan Harapan chairman, must help the poor at large to win the hearts of Malay voters.

“Anwar seems unwilling to use that power in a way that can bring the country forward and save his coalition.

“He expects Umno to give them the Malay vote, but Umno can’t even give themselves the Malay vote because the Malay masses are quite fed up with the corruption. PH must do it themselves.

“Start a national pension campaign for the masses; put some money into low-cost flats, they’re such a mess. Do a few of these high-profile things and attract the Malay masses instead of relying on Umno,” said the former Sungai Siput MP.

The NEP, introduced in 1971 by the Abdul Razak Hussein-led government, was aimed at addressing economic disparities among ethnic groups through affirmative action programmes favouring the majority ethnic group – the Bumiputeras.

Among its wide-ranging policies, the racial quotas for education have long been a hotly debated issue, with critics arguing that it discriminates against non-Bumiputera students.