At the beginning of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s winding up of the RM60 billion mini budget (second economic stimulus package) in Parliament yesterday, I asked why his response to the economic crisis was so slow and so late, when it was evident to all economists and analysts last year that his RM7 billion “first economic stimulus package” was totally inadequate to the economic challenges facing the country.
As far back as January 21, Najib was so deep in denial that he could maintain that Malaysia could still achieve 3.5% GDP growth this year when there were already forecasts of negative growth.
It took Najib another seven weeks in his mini-budget of March 10 to revise Malaysia’s estimated GDP growth this year to between -1% to 1%, when there were even more dire forecasts of negative growth of between three to five per cent.
As Finance Minister of a country facing the world’s worst economic crisis in 80 years, Najib should have focused single-mindedly on the country’s economy.
Instead, he neglected his responsibilities as the Finance Minister at the country’s most critical stage to play politics, orchestrating the unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak, which has plunged Perak and the country into a new crisis of confidence in governance and democracy.
I told Najib in Parliament that what he did was like Nero who played the fiddle while Rome burned.
By that time, the House was in total pandemonium, with the shouting and heckling of UMNO MPs which started when I stood up for intervention, rising to a crescendo to drown out what I said.
Najib’s reply in the mini-budget yesterday was a great disappointment. He was clearly uncomfortable winding up the debate, refusing to allow MPs to engage him in a debate after perfunctory responses to a few interjections, even ending his speech without finishing the prepared text he had before him.