Archive for October 2nd, 2012

Mahal betul harga nak kekalkan BN dan Najib

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 01, 2012

1 OKT — Najib Razak setiap hari keluar berkempen memaki hamun semua parti-parti yang dalam PR dan kerajaan negeri-negeri tadbiran Pakatan Rakyat. Bagi kita yang sudah berumur dan ada sedikit pengalaman berpolitik ini memahami apa yang ada di dalam hati dan sanubari pemimpin utama negara kita itu. Beliau gentar dan resah gelisah.

Cara beliau bercakap bergegar-gegar itu tidak lebih dan tidak kurang menunjukkan yang beliau amat gelisah dengan apa yang berlaku dikalangan rakyat akar umbi. Najib sedang panik dan masih tidak berkeyakinan yang BN akan mendapat mandat kali ini walaupun berbillion-billion ringgit telah dibelanjakan membeli hati dan jiwa rakyat sekalian.

Cara beliau berucap tidak menampakkan yang beliau seorang Perdana Menteri. Mungkin beliau terlupa sekejap yang beliau itu Perdana Menteri kerana selalunya pemimpin utama negara akan bercakap dengan nada yang rendah tapi meyakinkan. Di Pulau Pinang semalam Najib bercakap dengan nada yang begitu tinggi dan nampak jelas beliau terlalu banyak kelemahan yang beliau mahu lindungi dari pandangan rakyat. Beliau mempunyai banyak perkara yang putus yang perlu di sambung dan yang koyak untuk ditampal.

Setiap malam tidak ada orang lain dikaca TV selain dari Najib berkempen melaluinya. Bahan kempennya tidak lain hanya memperlekehkan pentadbiran semua kerajaan negeri-negeri yang ditadbir oleh Pakatan Rakyat. Najib tidak nampak apa kebaikan yang telah dilakukan oleh PR di Pulau Pinang, Selangor dan Kedah serta Kelantan. Najib amat resah dengan pengaruh kerajaan-kerajaan negeri dalam PR kerana kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat melakukan pembersihan segala politik dan ekonomi yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan BN dahulu. Read the rest of this entry »

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REFSA’s and IDEAS’s Misplaced Focus on Critiquing Subsidies in the 2013 Budget

Dr Lim Teck Ghee
2nd October 2012

In their joint statement recently released on 28 September, IDEAS (Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs) and not-for-profit research institute REFSA (Research for Social Advancement) drew attention to the “shocking federal government subsidy bill for 2012” which according to them is now expected to hit RM42 billion, a massive RM9 billion or 27% above the RM33 billion originally forecast for the year.

While it is true that subsidies have quadrupled in the past five years, and some of it is wasteful and not efficiently targeted at the most needy or priority sectors, the REFSA-IDEAS contention of the debilitating effects of subsidies on our economic health needs to be challenged.

Yes, blanket subsidies for cheap petrol and sugar do result in a degree of excessive and wasteful consumption. However the extent is debatable, and even if considerable, is not a sufficiently compelling reason for their immediate removal. Read the rest of this entry »

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Malaysia’s Coming Election: Beyond Communalism?

International Crisis Group
Asia Report N°235
1 Oct 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Malaysia’s thirteenth general election, which Prime Minister Najib Razak will have to call by April 2013, could be a watershed in communal relations. More than ever before, there is a chance, albeit a very small one, that opposition parties running on issues of transparency, economic equity and social justice could defeat the world’s longest continually-elected political coalition, the National Front (Barisan Nasional), that has based its support on a social compact among the country’s Malay, Chinese and Indian communities. That compact, granting Malays preferential status in exchange for security and economic growth, has grown increasingly stale as the growing middle class demands more of its leaders. Both ruling party and opposition are using images of the Arab Spring – the former to warn of chaos if it is not returned to power, the latter to warn of popular unrest unless political change comes faster. Read the rest of this entry »

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Popular populism? Najib’s Budget 2013 gamble

Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2012

COMMENT Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has announced the second election primer budget full of goodies, extending from bonuses to civil servants to handouts to lower income households.

This budget is Najib’s latest fiscal effort to secure him a solid victory in the 13th general election that has to be held before the end of June next year.

The budget is a continuation of a historically unprecedented pattern of direct government transfers to woo political support that has broadened in scope, increased in amount and moved development policy from needs based initiatives to what appears to be a coordinated regime political survival programme.

Najib’s main campaign strategy to win political support has been to offer financial rewards, and he has used his position as premier in an attempt to buttress his political position.

With something for everyone, he is clearly trying to increase his popularity through a variety of populist initiatives. Given his priorities, will this budget actually secure his political fortunes? Read the rest of this entry »

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