Friday, May 10, 2019

We blardy know Mahathir

From Malaysiakini:

We know Mahathir; how different will Anwar be?

OPINION  |  P GUNASEGARAM
Published:   |  Modified: 
QUESTION TIME | Harapan’s major failure one year since winning the 14th general election is not to firmly put in place changes which would bring about a civil society that considers all Malaysians equal and where the government will be truly accountable to the people.
Now that we have seen what Dr Mahathir Mohamad is about, the question to ask is whether there will be change if and when Anwar Ibrahim takes over within the next year. That will crucially determine the kind of New Malaysia we get.
Exactly a year ago today, most of us adults were focused on one thing - to go out and make our vote count - it was vital that we did because our nation could well go under in the near future - under a morass of debt and theft if we did not kick this kleptocratic government out. But few had any hope that we would.
We all knew by then that the government was allowing the robbery of billions from the country without any check and balance from Umno/BN, almost all of whose MPs unequivocally supported the prime minister, then Najib Abdul Razak, dashing all hopes of a party revolt against a thief.
Najib had used his wide powers under the law to suppress the damning, bucketfuls of incriminating evidence against him, of which the main one was a highly detailed investigation by the US Department of Justice outlining how more than US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB.
Just before that, our own auditor-general had put the money unaccounted for in 1MDB’s accounts at some US$7 billion, just short of RM30 billion. The report was classified secret under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by the Najib regime, which changed the attorney-general, shifted senior police officers around and even investigated Bank Negara Malaysia officials to intimidate the public and keep the truth under wraps.

The only hope left of stopping this unprecedented kleptocracy, the biggest the world has ever seen, and to stop a corrupt government which also showed itself to be highly incompetent in many other areas and which used race and religion to stay in power, was through the polls.
The unthinkable and inconceivable happened. Malaysians finally had enough of BN and kicked it out of government, after 61 years. Their hopes and aspirations were high and not all of these will be immediately realised.
One year later, without any doubt, the new government is better than the old, but then almost anything else would be given the corruption and incompetence of the previous one. Malaysians have a better government, but that does not mean they should not aspire to more.
Yes, bringing Najib to the courts is an achievement, but what has been done towards governance, competence, accountability and transparency? How much has been done to put in the legislative changes and the institutional frameworks to ensure that 1MDB and similar others never happen again? Precious little.
Constitutional changes are not required for most of these because laws can be annulled and changed by a simple majority in Parliament. Checks and balances can quite easily be set up and consensus building encouraged, instead of individual decisions on a person’s whim and fancy without proper study and consideration.
Mahathir made history not only as the person who became prime minister twice, but also the first time the PM had come from a minority party. But Mahathir is not one given to consensus building - even when the chips are down.
After the elections, the new prime minister was a person from a party that had only the third highest number of MPs among coalition partners, at 13 for his Bersatu against PKR’s 47 and DAP’s 42. Amanah had 11. If consensus was what the other parties expected, that was not to be.
Soon after May 9, the coalition came under threat following Mahathir’s appointment of key cabinet members which heavily weighted Bersatu, a Malay party. Many of the ministers were downright incompetent and inexperienced, including one whose first job ever was that of sports minister.
The education minister has so far inspired no confidence and has done little to show that he understands the problems of education in the country and that he has a plan to turn it around. Eventually, in the full cabinet, PKR (and DAP) had much lower proportionate representation, and a seething, but unstated, resentment emerged.

A tension developed, which exists until today among the coalition partners caused by various shifting alliances, with coalition partners unhappy with Daim Zainuddin (above) taking over many important functions which should have been in the domain of the cabinet.
Effectively, Mahathir used Daim to bypass and undermine the strength of the cabinet. Later he took in Umno members into Bersatu, members who had previously supported Najib, causing much unhappiness within the coalition.
Questions began to be asked whether Mahathir will really be an interim prime minister and whether Anwar Ibrahim will, as promised, succeed him within two years of GE14. It now seems likely that the succession is likely to take place, while Mahathir is given free rein for the time being.
Mahathir had effectively hijacked the reform agenda of Harapan, pleading that manifesto promises could not be kept because they did not expect to win the elections. Not only did legislative reform take a back seat, the report of the Council of Eminent Persons, headed by Daim, was ironically classified as secret under the OSA. What’s there to hide?
As the head of a party whose job it is to protect Malay rights (does it need protection?) Mahathir was not likely to take any steps which, rightly or wrongly, may be seen to be in conflict with the rights of Malays/Royalty.
Thus, there were U-turns in terms of ratifying the Rome Statute and ICERD which showed a strong inclination to side with the Malay right, which not only alienated non-Malays, but also the moderates within the Malay community.

There were U-turns in the economic sphere too, when the RM44 billion East Coast Rail Link was renegotiated and resurrected after Mahathir had firmly turned it down earlier. And so was the RM140 billion development value Bandar Malaysia project at a time when there is a major property overhang in Kuala Lumpur.
We now know what Mahathir is all about and we all have our opinions about how much he has or has not changed, but one thing is clear - he does things his own way, whether other people like it or not, whether there is consensus or not.
Civil society and inclusiveness are not his cup of tea - that may come after he goes, it seems. Transparency, accountability and good governance are for those who come after him, not him. Meantime, he and Daim know best what to do.
The big question is what will Anwar be like when it is his turn? Will he firmly return to the reform agenda? Will he build consensus? Will he be more inclusive? Will he make all Malaysians feel more Malaysian and bridge the racial divide? Will he be uncompromising on corruption, and will he ultimately put an end to patronage?
Will Anwar be a prime minister for all Malaysians? Will he do the right things about education? Will he favour competence over politics? And I am not talking about race here because there are many competent Malays and bumiputeras around, too. 

16 comments:

  1. More scary is if in GE15 we vote BN back into power (with PAS), we will have a government that is based on one race, one religion and corruption. Make your choice or play ping-pong again?

    Even as the billions of 1MDB money is flowing back from the US, Singapore and elsewhere it is shocking that NOT ONE ex-government minister has apologised over the financial loss or returned money they took from the former PM. They have no shame, are they suggesting that the money flowing back now are "donations" for Toonsie's regime to stay in power ha ha, come on UMNO, MCA etc, return the money, orang kulit putih can return, yellow-skinned kiasu-people can return....how about brown-skinned people? And we want to vote them back into power again?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The 1MDB money was taken by Jho Loh, Tim Leissner, Roger Ng, etc.. but not Najib. Why should any ex-minister apologise? Wakakaka ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Najib case was Harapkan Pagar, Pagar makan Padi.

      Najib was the Pagar.

      Delete
    2. Wakakakaka…

      When the 1MDB case gets clearer, blurred & unconvinced f*cks, like u, r starting to find scapegoats to shield yr cash-is-king kleptomaniac elites!

      Perhaps, it's bcoz of alifbata fart! Right?

      HOW's that going to jive with the Ramadhan spirit?

      Ooop… zombiecism has a different take for its fasting doctrine!

      Delete
    3. trust racist bigoted CK to insult Muslims fasting

      Delete
    4. racist bigoted??!b

      Wow!

      These r no Muslim whom I have mixed with!

      Remember, I call them ZOMBIES!

      That's calling a spade, spade.

      Delete
    5. "That's calling a spade, spade."

      thats calling a racist, racist.

      Delete
    6. not that diff, similar to this guna , recycle the same confirmation bias again n again

      Delete
    7. Wakakakaka…

      U de man of rd fart lah!

      Especially when u r itching to release yr 2cent worth of inconsequential fart of 扣帽子.

      Delete
    8. "not that diff"!!!

      Have u ever notice the differences in breaking fast between yr Formosa Muslims & the local zombies?

      In fact, the zombies r in the class of their own - way way differs from the rest of the ummat of the Islamic world!

      Call me racist?

      Only when yr zombieic pals entertaining u in the dungdut join during breaking of fast lah!

      Right?

      Delete
  3. What exactly is U-turn on the East Coast Rail Link ?

    Mahathir and the PH government made it clear up front they found the ECRL too costly, the terms of the ECRL lopsided with Malaysia at the losing end.
    That there are Billions in compensation costs if the ECRL was cancelled outright was also made clear.

    The PH government deserves credit for renegotiating a lower cost and more equitable agreement, with the China company sharing the Profit and Loss of future operations.

    And the Klang Gates Quartz ridge saved, the icing on the cake.

    I still disagree with the ECRL, but we are where we are, curse be upon Najib, but the PH government made a reasonable lemonade out of a bitter lemon handed down from your Beloved Ah Jib Gor.

    What exactly is the U-Turn again ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. truly amazing there are people who think anwar is a pushover after what he has been through and done

    will maddy risk another feud with anwar after all the hard work, turn the country upside down and hand over the rule to the opposition of pasumno?

    after maddy who else in pH is more qualified if not anwar warts and all

    as to when, it is rightly maddy's call when he is ready, is there any indication that manmanlai is in a hurry?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yesterday was Wear Black day, to protest against Pakatan Harapan rule.
    I know a number of die hard UMNO PAS and also Nons Anti-Pakatoons who made a point to wear black.

    Was Ah Mok decked out all in black, like Batman ? wakakaka..

    No consequences whatsoever from the authorities....under PH its a free country !

    I well remember in 2011, during the Najib Administration, on the eve of the banned Hindraf rally, if you were stopped at a roadblock approaching KL wearing an Orange T-shirt (the trademark of Hindraf), it could get you arrested by police.

    Who says Pakatan is worse than BN ?

    ReplyDelete
  6. too early to create doubts on anwar's capability as pm on people's mind until after a year on the driver's seat before that its only guess work, don't waste your time

    ReplyDelete
  7. At this moment in time after 1 year of PH governance and the reforms achieved, some missteps (politiking or governance actions) by TDM should not be postulated as if his old/hidden personal agenda is in play and summarised by the all knowing writer and blogger that he/she really knows where TDM is heading.

    Neither should the writer make assumptions that he really knows DSAI and cast aspersions that he is also fearful of whether DSAI would be worse or better in undertaking the reforms required.

    There is a world of difference between politiking and the actual governance actions taken to lead/rule a Nation and the writer does not seem to be able to differentiate between the 2 spheres just like most other politicians when elected into office to govern.

    However, having said all that, if the reforms leading to good governance of a Nation is the issue then what we are all looking at is actually who among TDM or DSAI would make a better leader as PM, isn't it?

    To avoid unnecessary politiking and ensure good governance and continuity with the reforms, and within the next year timeline (as agreed by all the PH coalition leaders), shouldn't a responsible leader as PM done the following:

    1. Appoint as his successor DSAI, the post of Deputy PM? (Currently Wan Azizah or is she going to be the successor as the 1st woman PM?)

    2. Start delegating the uncompleted Reforms to the DPM, while the PM concentrate on providing good governance from his Cabinet members for the country?

    If those actions are taken, it would ensure less politiking insinuations, stability and continuity of the PH Govt., more confidence to Malaysians and investors and of where they are heading at least in this current term, wouldn't it?

    I wonder, whether TDM himself and the PH coalition partners realize TDM has a limited timeline and is not Immortal instead of being blindsided by politiking issues.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anwar will Do an ERDOGAN Pretend Coup and tehn Install himself like Eternal Emperor....Limit one term PM for 5 Years is the Solution for Useless Racist terrorist MalaysiaL!

    ReplyDelete