Dr. Mahathir said at the lecture organised by the Former People’s Representatives Council (Mubarak) that it would not be possible to have a unity government which would rely on the cooperation between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat as proposed by Hadi Awang. He cited the ideological differences between PAS and Umno as the deterring factor which would fail the unity government.

Notwithstanding, in my personal opinion the current fast deterioration of the economic situation may send a strong alarming signal to both PAS and Umno that it is time to set aside the ideological differences between the ruling parties and the opposition parties in order to lay path for a joint effort to overcome the critical escalating national unemployment problem.

Let’s take a few minutes to examine the price drops in two major commodities of Malaysia, namely Crude Petroleum and Crude Palm Oil, in order to get a better idea on how severe the sharp drop in demand for our national products can be:

It is reported by MITI Weekly Bulletin Volume 35 dated 11 March 2009 that Crude Petroleum recorded the highest trading price of USD145.08 per barrel as at 13 July 2008. However, the price for Crude Petroleum dropped drastically to USD47.07 per barrel as at 10 March 2009. This sharp price drop of about 67.56% over about 8 months’ short-term period can be translated into a tremendous loss of the expected national income that is to be generated from export of crude petroleum.

On the other hand, the expected personal income of the oil palm planters in Malaysia is also badly affected by a sharp drop in the international trading price of Crude Palm Oil (CPO). CPO recorded the highest trading price of USD1,367.50 per metric tonne as at 5 March 2008. However, the CPO price dropped to USD570.00 per metric tonne as at 10 March 2009, which was a significant price drop of about 58.32% over a period of one year.

As a consequence of the sharp price drop in commodity trade items, the import volume and export volume of the international trade of Malaysia could only indicate a big contraction. The following comments were excerpt from MITI Weekly Bulletin Volume 35:

“Source: MITI
Note : Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Malaysia’s trade in January 2009 totalled RM67.8 billion, a decrease of 29.7% compared to the same month last year. Exports were valued at RM38.3 billion, a decrease of 27.8%, while imports fell by 32.0% to RM29.5 billion compared to a year ago.”

If the sharp drop in Malaysia’s international trade volume cannot be put to a stop, it is quite likely that Malaysia will report a recession for the whole year of 2009.

Apparently, the most viable shortcut for encouraging international trade between the Malaysia’s international trade partners and Malaysia itself is for the Malaysians to prove to the international business communities that Malaysia can give a promise of political stability which will last for at least the next four years by way of forming a unity government between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat at the Federal level as well as at the state level.

Even though Dr. Mahathir does not believe that a unity government is viable in Malaysia, we may still harp our hope in forming a unity government. History has shown us that human beings of different ideological backgrounds will tend to be much more willing to reach a compromise in order to cooperate and unite among themselves when they face a big survival challenge and when their livelihood has been seriously intimidated by the common enemy. In the present case of Malaysia, it is obvious that the common enemy is the threat of global economic recession. Therefore, it is still at the early stage for someone to rule out the possibility of forming a unity government between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat since both the ruling parties and the opposition parties may give a serious thought about it as the practicable proactive measure in order to jointly take up the challenge of fighting the huge intimidation of economic recession.

The Umno politicians know very well that their personal wealth and snobbish lifestyle can only be built upon the political power which they now hold in their hands. Therefore, it is not easy for the incumbent to let go his power without first having to do some dilly dally posture which is elegant and aesthetically pleasing to the bystanders, lest their personal wealth and snobbish lifestyle will all be suddenly gone with the wind if he looks too weak in the eyes of the bystanders. This may tell the good reason why suddenly there was a 4 eyes meeting between AAB and DSAI.

By looking back to the Chinese history of Ching Dynasty, we found that the last Emperor Pu Yi was also never hesitating to offer himself to work as the puppet of the Japanese Invader Army, simply because it was too painful for him to suffer from the sudden loss of personal wealth and snobbish lifestyle when the last Emperor no longer held the political power in his own hands.

The loneliness after retirement makes people feel hungry for power. If it is no longer possible for one to regain the lost power due to senility, then the best way to pass life is to talk outspokenly in order to catch people’s attention. This is the understandable behaviour that is usually conducted by a lonely retired old man in Malaysia.