by Augustine Anthony
First it was Yb Lim Kit Siang and now Yb M. Kulasegaran joining the concern few leaders of the opposition that prime minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak’s popularity is a warning to the bickering politicians within the opposition to put aside their differences and present a united and strong opposition or face irrelevance.
Beyond the warring ruling and opposition parties, it must be noted that the approval rating for the prime minister in reality augurs well for the nation as a whole for various reasons among others.
That such high approval rating of 65% within the first 100 days and the need to maintain a continuing rise in the approval rating of the prime minister throughout the period leading to the 13th general election will from now onwards be keenly observed by Malaysians.
Failure to maintain the status quo or to better it will lead the general public to view the prime minister as being unable to bring lasting reforms to our oversized and pregnant civil service that is often perceived as lacking the needed integrity and efficiency. This does not and will not benefit the ruling Barisan Nasional government in their quest to retain power.
In order to maintain 65% or more percentage of approval rating, the prime minister must now continue to introduce and implement policies that will benefit the majority of the people. We are only at the announcements stage that must be met with delivery soon. Good news for the people I should think.
One must also remember that this approval rating is for the prime minister alone and not for the entire Barisan Nasional lawmakers. The performances of many of them certainly need acute improvements. The prime minister cannot stand alone. Any unpopular and non performing members of the ruling party must now match and equal the approval rating of the prime minister. It is a daunting task for Barisan Nasional and a stressful expectation for the people.
We should never forget that the approval rating is also a reflection of the maturity and rapid growth in the political awareness and intelligence of the demanding Malaysian voting population.
In one such stroke of brilliance, the Malaysian voting population had “killed many birds” two of which are noteworthy:-
The ruling government must now continue to deliver and deliver more, in fierce and urgent manner and this can only be done by revamping the entire delivery system of our civil service saddled with many administrative dead woods that remain a major stumbling block in our push to be declared as a developed nation.
This approval rating is also seen as the people relaying a gentle reminder to the opposition parties that they must now compete with Barisan Nasional to better serve the people and that they will only be voted in if they can position themselves as an efficient, effective and viable alternative.
The final analysis is that a prosperous nation requires effective and ethical administrators and a competent opposition that will maintain an ever watchful eye on the ruling elites.
In a country where there is now an increasing demand for a greater competency, accountability and transparency, such competition among the political parties and their leaders will only benefit the nation.
May the best man dance with the ‘bride’.
#1 by All For The Road on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 9:52 am
Is Najib’s 1Malaysia project for real?
One wonders!
#2 by k1980 on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 11:00 am
Doing the nation a favour, Jib. Blow yerself up with C4
#3 by boh-liao on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 11:17 am
Whenever there is a census taken to monitor the popularity of NR, everyone here should tick YES to support NR. Let his popularity support naik to 99.9%. NR will immediately choose to go for the next GE.
Then show him.
#4 by malaysia born on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 11:19 am
65%? I say , so what?
The question i would like to ask is
1) Has our quality of life improved?
2) Has corruption be eradicated?……..as a matter of fact, has anything concrete been done to resemble a start of the eradication of corruption?
3) To those who was retrenched as a result of the economy, do you still have a job?
4) Why are known corrupted politicians still wlaking free?…and horros, some in the corridors of power too!
And until the truth about Mr Teoh Beng Hock’s death is investigated fairly and made public, his rating might as well be -65% !
#5 by DAP man on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 11:46 am
Only fools will believe that Najib has 65% approval rating. This survey is rigged.
Look at the state of the Judiciary, the MACC, PDRM, the AG chambers and the EC.
They are UMNO tools. What has he done to make them truly independent?
LOOK AT PERAK, you stupid!!!
#6 by siamo on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 12:26 pm
The PR should set up a mechanism to resolve internal differences instead of washing all the dirty linen in public. In the end, there may be nothing that come out of it and there is really no issue any way. But, by fighting in public is a sure way to lose voters.
A case in point, as reported in the Daily Star, “He [Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi] has accused Mohd Razali of having a conflict of interest by sitting in the council’s One-Stop Centre (OSC) committee.” Should this be brought up to the PR to resolve.
Even taking it a step further, if one PR party member or MP has a grouse or complaint about another, there should be a mechanism within the PR for them to complain. This mechanism should then investigate it and if found valid, PR should voluntary report this to the police and MACC, etc, and even remove the party member from membership. This is hall mark of a clean party.
In the last few months, it is heart wrenching to see the PR parties slugging out in public and losing votes. LKY, DSAI and NA must do something before their parties are consigned to history.
#7 by ktteokt on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 1:17 pm
First and foremost, get PAS to do a complete spring cleaning by throwing out those who are not firm on their beliefs in party policies. All these nonsense with UNITY GOVERNMENT talks is creating impatience and fear among supporters. Why did these people do such a stupid thing in the first place? If unity government can be formed, then PAS would not have to jump out of BN years ago!
#8 by k1980 on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 1:37 pm
macc- Murderers Anonymous, Chartered and Certified
#9 by taiking on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 2:09 pm
Pakatan never was and still is not in putrajaya yet. But, given its increased representation in parliament after 308 what we see now is some semblance of a two-party system. This is an entirely new scenario. Umno too has to re-learn. Najib is trying to play along. But his effort is neither sufficient nor genuine. And the rest of umno are holding on strongly to the view that the old ways still applies and are still relevant. Such attitude will bring the downfall of umno about sooner.
I can detect another badawi phenomenon coming but on a much reduced scale. Badawi attracted a great deal of support because people genuinely piled a lot of trust and hope upon him early on in his pmship. Najib on the contrary goes about buying for himself the support. There is only so much he could buy. Worse the sweets and carrots that he handed out in exchange for support are not exactly tasty. In fact some are outright inedible. So like badawi when he failed to deliver on the support voters gave him, najib’s popularity too would collapse severely (dragging umno with him) when voters discovered the tasteless and inedible sweets in their hands.
Unlike najib. badawi was relatively free of undesirable rumours during the start of his pmship. Although najib denied all those rumours about him, he made no serious effort to clear himself of them. Hence they will return to haunt him. Mother Gobi is still watching so to speak.
The science and maths in english issue is a time bomb. The 12.5b scandal, the perak illegal power grab, the multimillion ringgit zakaria and toyo mansions, and many many other issues will sink the “MV UMNO”.
#10 by LG on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 2:09 pm
Dear PM, Your 1Malaysia is with double standard. BN/UMNO is so corrupt yet MACC does so little action taken. Piles and piles of complaints on the corruption of BN/UMNO yet they say they do not favor anyone. We are not stupid children that can be easily deceived.
#11 by Jefus on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 2:14 pm
the only way to truly ascertain his popularity is a snap election. i draw your attention to the time BN was confident of a landslide in the last GE, based on surveys. the outcome is not at all in the same ballpark as the surveys. so? popularity from a survey? rubbish.
with transport fare hikes and the petrol hike in Sept 09, inflation will rear its head again sometime in the near future.
the voting public has grown wise to the power of his vote and has begun to punish elected candidates for shoddy work from both side, ruling parties and opposition. i pray that we grow wiser and faster.
#12 by House Victim on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 2:28 pm
“In a country where there is now an increasing demand for a greater competency, accountability and transparency, such competition among the political parties and their leaders will only benefit the nation.”
—————————————-
The BN Government has never reached an Average or Justified Competency, Accountability and Transparency in the past 52 years. They only look for Power and then Benefit Sharing among their cronies. They had amended Constitution and Laws to NOWHERE Rights of People or even Parliament can have a Fair Word or practice!
Does their EC and the system provide any Space of Fair Competition among Parties?
DICTATORSHIP, POLICE STATE with Corruption and Abuse of Rights and Bullies are what are running by the “Government”.
Anyone can see Declining rather than improving during the last 100 days. BN only concern pushing PK into the corner than anything else!! The MACC Act and the recent SIAP Bill have provided BN more tools to run Police State with more Dictatorship with ignorance of People in the Constitution and Laws!!
#13 by Navinda on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 2:36 pm
Is Jibby walking the talk? For all the hype about the great reforms of 1Malaysia, People First and performance now, nothing has changed except that the spin doctors in the MSM seem to have mastered their art, hence the shift towards Jibby and the 65% ratings (or is it?). The economy still crawls, FDI’s are practically nil, and the surges in the KLSE seems orchestrated.
Manik Urai does not reflect the true feelings of the people. The next general elections would be a true reflections.
Meanwhile, the Pakatan leaders should stop washing dirty linen in public. Too much of bickering amongst leaders over petty issues and their need for unnecessary publicity is taking a toll on their popularity of the PR coalition. They should get on with their work without the need for such diversions.
#14 by puteri pinang on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 3:10 pm
The figure has to be up, otherwise somebody will be blown up, missing in action or job jeopardized, the least.
#15 by One4All4One on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 4:58 pm
What is the good and use of 65% approval rating if it is NOT translated into actual benefits to the rakyat?
Right NOW, can we feel and see any tangible effects and results of Najib’s policies?
If the brouhaha over the rating is so great, then there must be an even greater brouhaha over the benefits and positive effects.
The question is: DO WE SEE THOSE DESIRABLE BENEFITS already?
If the answer is in the negative, then the rating is only as good as an eye wash, nothing more, nothing less.
In other words, the rating is only for the sole purpose of self-gratification, or in the local lingo, “syiok sendiri”.
It would be more meaningful and useful if there are already tangible results for all to see and enjoy that a rating would serve the purpose and actually gauge the acceptance of the policies and capability and stature of a leader.
Malaysians are so caught up with “form” rather than “substance”.
A little ripple here and there could caused so much excitement and euphoria.
A lot more need to be done to improve the conditions and situations in the country:
Standard of Education
Political Stability
Economic Achievement
Social Safety and Security
Job Opportunities
Inter-racial Harmony and Mutual Respect and Acceptance
Etc., etc.
If, and only if, the right package and blend of leadership, policies, inter-racial respect and harmony, dignity, religious tolerance and understanding, morality, educational standards, social stability and peace, environmental protection and its smart utilisation, economic and political maturity are present and practised, Malaysia will be head and shoulder above many nations in terms of achievement and standing.
So, just don’t get too excited about the 65% rating, guys!
#16 by negarawan on Friday, 17 July 2009 - 10:39 pm
NR and UMNO, I want to let you know that for every innocent life that is lost and destroyed by your selfish political motives, you are fully accountable in God’s eyes, and fully accountable to the families and loved ones that are affected. I do not know what is your religious conviction, but we believe that for all these cruel and merciless and unjust acts of yours and UMNO, you and your cronies will receive bad Karma here and in the afterlife. We believe in leadership by example, and so far your actions and lifestyle do not convince a large multitude of Malaysians that you are sincere and capable. We do not believe in your 1Malaysia concept because it is full of insincerity and gimmicks and it is only an empty and meaningless slogan. Please step down and let the better party govern Malaysia for the sake of our country and children’s future. I am truly ashamed to be a Malaysian now because of how you run the country. There is no political will to eradicate massive and rampant corruption among UMNO politicians. Instead the innocent are targeted by you to destroy all political dissent. In the meantime, the country’s economy is sliding, the poor remain poor, the education system is in shambles due to political expediency, there’s no real development and buildings are collapsing, the judiciary is corrupted, the police force is weak and corrupted, innocent people are incarcerated in prisons, religious and racial disharmony is at an alarming level, and all-in-all there’s no peace and happiness in the country. If you cannot lead the country, please step down and follow the better leader. Shame on you and the entire UMNO-led government for putting Malaysia into this condition.
#17 by lopez on Saturday, 18 July 2009 - 5:54 pm
If i am pm, i will direct the home ministry to give a statement within the hour and over the nation…LIVE with all interested correspondents present.
but if there any of such were to telecast…you can bet that in will be adulkterated