KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 – Malaysia must risk a political overhaul to fix its ailing economy instead of continuing with a long-reigning regime, an economist said today.
According to Penang Institute executive director Prof Woo Wing Thye, reforms can be easier to implement if the newly-elected government does not have any emotional attachment towards past policies.
“To make a turning point you need new people,” Woo said here.
“They’re likely to make changes when they’re not beholden to the previous office holder.”
Woo was speaking at forum organised by PKR-backed think-tank Institut Rakyat, titled “Economic Management During Political Transition”.
Woo said that it is hard for an incumbent government to make changes that they did not implement before because it is akin to admitting that they have failed in their previous term.
This becomes harder the longer a coalition or a party has stayed in power, he said.
Ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) and its predecessor Parti Perikatan has been governing Malaysia for the past 58 years since winning the first election for the then Federation of Malaya in 1955.
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