BN lawmakers differ with Musa Hitam, insist Pakatan manifesto a failure

Attendees receive copies of PR’s election manifesto during the pact’s fourth annual convention in Shah Alam, February 25, 2012. — Picture by Choo Choy MayKUALA LUMPUR, March 14 ― Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians reacted with dismay and cynicism at former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam’s assertion that Malaysia will not go bankrupt if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) captures Putrajaya in the next election.

The lawmakers insisted that PR’s manifesto lacked sustainability and credibility, unlike the proven track record of BN, which has ruled Malaysia for the past five decades.

“How can anyone predict what will happen?” Datuk Chua Tee Yong told The Malaysian Insider here, referring to Musa’s claim that a PR government would work hard to maintain the country’s economic growth.

The MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief maintained his doubt that PR will be able to implement every point inside its election manifesto without drying out the nation’s coffers.

Although the BN lawmakers steered clear of attacking Musa personally given his stature among Malaysians, the former leader’s comments in a Sinar Harian interview published yesterday and his more private conversation on the state of Umno and politics has caused consternation in Putrajaya.

Umno’s Tangga Batu MP Datuk Idris Haron defended the bankruptcy accusations, explaining they were made in the context of criticising PR’s manifesto and shadow budget, which failed to take into account economic sustainability.

“They said that extra revenue can be obtained by eliminating graft and corruption, but it was just intangible numbers,” Idris said.

“Their manifesto also looked like it was prepared in haste, it seemed half-baked.”

MIC secretary-general S. Murugesan slammed the opposition pact for failing to implement many of their pledges in Selangor, a state which fell for the first time towards the opposition in the last polls.

“The opposition should prove themselves first in the state that they rule,” Murugesan said.

Chua agreed with Murugesan, saying that the only reason Selangor has managed to stay afloat was because PR has failed to keep its promises in the state.

“They know that if they implement (all their promises) Selangor will go bankrupt,” Chua said.

The Labis MP also predicted that a PR federal government would definitely need to find other measures to increase government revenue, such as increasing taxes, if they wish for Malaysia to avoid bankruptcy while trying to keep their promises.

In his interview with Sinar Harian, Musa appeared to defend PR, which has been forecast by politicians and some observers aligned to BN as likely to empty the nation’s coffers and scare off foreign investors with their proposed public policies in their bid to take federal power.

“If the opposition were to rule, they would not make foreign investors run away. They will not do so and bankrupt the economy,” Musa was quoted as saying at a news conference in Shah Alam on Tuesday.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had in recent months warned Malaysians against voting for change, arguing in a series of speeches that it will result in a weak government that will hinder economic progress.

During a lunch commemorating MCA’s 64th anniversary in January, the party’s president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek had warned members that the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM-KLCI) would drop 500 points if PR comes into power.

In turn, PR has been hard at work trying to reverse the perception and allay such fears, with two forums titled “Managing Economy During Political Transition” held by PKR-backed think-tank Institut Rakyat today in Penang, and yesterday in Kuala Lumpur.

In the forum two days ago, Penang Institute executive director Prof Woo Wing Thye said that a total change needed to happen before Malaysia can fix its ailing and stagnant economy, which has been exacerbated by political inertia.

His fellow panellist, suspended Bank Islam economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin had predicted swift economic recovery under a year should PR wins Election 2013.

Malaysia’s economy grew 5.4 per cent last year, slightly above the economy’s potential rate of about five per cent, global research house Moody’s Analytics reported last month.

The Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy will weather the next general election and maintain its robust growth even if there is a change in government, renowned world economist Nouriel Roubini told the Datum Economic Forum 2013 here on March 1.

The PKR-DAP-PAS opposition parties had won 82 out of 222 federal seats in Parliament and four states in Election 2008, denying the BN their traditional two-thirds supermajority.

Malaysia is expected to go to polls in the next few weeks, with analysts predicting the possibility for a regime change for the first time ever since the country’s independence in 1957.