Four years to deliver

It’s time for the government to get back to the real work at hand – getting the economy back on track and the promised reforms.

SO, the dust has settled. It’s finally over. Can we now move forward, please?

With the six state elections done and dusted, it’s time to get back to the real work at hand – getting the economy back on track.

Malaysia cannot afford to be sidetracked by the continuous politicking post-GE15 and after the unity government was formed last November.

The new state governments need to deliver on election promises made prior to Aug 14.

And it doesn’t matter if these are from Perikatan Nasional states or Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional administrations. The parties that were voted in must fulfil their manifesto pledges.

This week, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the Federal Government should not “punish” Kedahans for voting Perikatan as it was their democratic right.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil’s contention is that it is important to maintain a good relationship between the federal and state governments and that there are no issues with the government continuing projects or channelling aid to opposition states.

This issue should not even be raised because regardless of how the people voted, and who controls the Federal Government, Malaysians from all states deserve equal treatment, allocations and resources.

The unity government now has four years to follow up on its promises of meaningful institutional reforms and good governance. But four years is a relatively short time, and the people are watching.

A Cabinet reshuffle should be a priority now for the Prime Minister. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim needs to jettison underperforming ministers and give Cabinet positions to qualified professionals, not necessarily politicians.

In a recent op-ed in StarBiz7, the co-chairman of one of Asia’s biggest fund managers, Datuk Seri Cheah Cheng Hye, opined that Malaysia’s biggest problem isn’t economic or financial, it is political.

“For decades now, Malaysia has been caught in a middle-income trap, bedevilled by crony capitalism, capital flight and brain drain.

“There are no quick fixes for Malaysia, which has been held back by weaknesses in productivity and competitiveness, as well as a society that is insufficiently inclusive,” said the founder of Value Partners Group Limited.

But the Hong Kong-based Penangite said the Madani initiative announced by Anwar is a welcome one because it lays out a clear vision to transform Malaysia into an advanced nation.

On July 27, Anwar launched the “Madani Economy: Empowering the People” economic framework.

The two main focuses of the framework are to restructure the economy to make Malaysia a leader among Asian economies and to ensure the enlarged wealth is benefited equitably by the rakyat.The Madani Economy framework will serve as a foundation for other policies, such as the National Energy Transition Roadmap, the New Industrial Masterplan 2030 and the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan.

However, Cheah said what is unclear is whether this Madani initiative will become a reality.

“Both foreign and domestic investors remain hesitant, and foreigners who bought into Malaysian assets have suffered badly from the persistent weakness of the ringgit.

“The nation needs a redesign and Madani could show the way. But implementation requires time and willpower,” he added.

Cheah’s opinions make sense and I agree with his argument that the country cannot continue to suffer from a “revolving door” government.

The electorate must have the patience and wisdom to give a stable, long-term mandate to a government committed to effective reform.

There are only so many Amazons and Teslas that we can court; the reality is that we are losing out on foreign direct investments (FDIs) to the likes of Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and even Cambodia.

Even though we have a young population, enormous resources, and by and large, good laws to protect businesses and corporations, we don’t have a huge market base.

Our policymakers in Putrajaya need to rethink how to attract FDIs. We need to focus on small bites – 30 to 40 million USD/euro. There are lots of opportunities here.

And to be fair, we are not doing enough for tourism.

Tourist dollars help Malaysia enormously, especially on the east coast of the peninsula where this can have a positive impact.

But of course, all this must also come with that promise of reforms. More needs to be done to combat corruption which has become systemic.

I look forward to the formation of Parliamentary Select Committees to determine key appointments and to ensure power does not only reside with one person in the country.

Finally, we need to strengthen national unity.

Polarisation and religious intolerance are on the rise, no thanks to the widening income disparity, rising inflation and unemployment among the youth.

Fixing these problems is not going to be easy, but the unity government should at least be given a fair chance to right these wrongs.

They have four years to deliver.