by Maria Begum
PKR leaders do not expect Prime Minister Najib Razak
to dissolve Parliament on Monday, pointing to the public's muted response to
his Budget 2012 despite its array of unabashed cash enticements to "buy
voters".
"Unlike in matured
democracies, where the timing of the general election is fixed, here in
Malaysia, it is completely up to the whim and fancy of the PM and his
bedfellow, Rosmah Mansor. Pakatan Rakyat will stay on the alert but the signs
are clear, they will cling on longer," PKR vice president and Johor chief
Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.
Jui Meng was referring to Najib's wife Rosmah, who is
well-known to play a very large role behind the scenes. Some even regard her as
being the power behind the throne.
Cool
response a sign of how low Najib's credibility has sunk
On Friday, Najib unveiled a RM232 million Budget
stashed with cash assistance and bonuses targeted at his Umno party's core
electorate, such as land settlers under the Felda scheme and the civil service
the main beneficiaries at the expense of other segments of society.
Despite the co-ordinated blitz of propangda from the
government-controlled mainstream press and TV, reaction was cool as Malaysians
themselves had expected Najib to resort to such measures.
"Now, I believe Najib
won't be confident enough to dissolve Parliament. GE-13 will be in February or
March after the people have received their 'ang-pow' from Budget 2012. It is
actually a sad reflection and something for Umno to take note of - the people
just don't trust him anymore and even when they get cash assistance, they are
smart enough to know it is their money," PKR vice president and Batu MP
Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
Oddly, even Najib's main contender for the Umno
presideny, Muhyiddin Yassin, has refused to deny that Budget 2012 was an election.
Unlike Najib, who criticised those who pointed out the flaws in his spending
plan, Muhyiddin said it was up to the people to decide how they wanted to view
the Budget.
Former premier Mahathir
Mohamad also sent out a veiled warning to Najib's outrageous spending spree,
pointing out that Malaysia and the rest of the world were in for a huge
financial crisis that will take years to pull out from. “The great financial crisis will be with us for a long time. Even
when it is resolved the aftermath will see slow recovery for the giants of the
West,” Mahathir wrote on his blog on the same day Najib unveiled Budget 2012.
Foreign
investors take cognizance of the foolhardiness in Najib's 2012 spending plan
Completely absent, and this will be noted by foreign investors
and rating agencies, were long term structural programs including returing
integrity and transparency into Malaysia's judicial system. For long,
Malaysia's institutions have been criticised for bowing to the beat of Umno's
poltical drum rather than to follow the letter of the law and to put the
interest of society and the economy first.
This has harmed Malaysia's image tremendously, as well as
Najib's own corruption scandals regarding the Scorpene submarines and the
purchase of falsely positively news programs. These programs were slotted into
international TV networks so as to paint a fake image of Najib's leadership and
projects, and despite his administration closing a stoic eye into the probes by
UK regulators, revelations of his attempt to do so has dented Malaysia's
credibility and foreigners now doubt what they see and hear about the country.
"Umno will perform
poorly in the GE unless they carry out real reform. They have tried to fob off
the people with fake reforms but the people are not fooled," PKR vice
president N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle..
"Instead of focusing on the economy they continue to
focus on attacking and persecuting the opposition. For example, the trial of
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and the way it has been handled doesn't boost
investor confidence because the health of the judiciary also has direct bearing
on the economy."
Surendran added that investors would only be convinced that
Malaysia had restored order into its systems when Najib, or whoever his
succesor is, launches politically tough reforms that immediately punished
corruption and returned independence to the judiciary.
Source : MC
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