Blunders from BN and Pakatan…

Malaysians can only make great strides forward if we have a good government and a strong opposition.

COMMENT

The beginning of year 2014 sees the Malaysian political scene encountering turbulence as God is competing with price hikes to be the major issue of the year.

However everyone is now pinning their hopes and putting their trust in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to put things right again. After all, he is the one who wrote the 10-point solution to the Christians just before the Sarawak state polls in April 2011.

So we trust that he will come up with a statement and solution that is fair to all.

Commenting on the current situation, PAS Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad remarked that Najib must quickly make a wise and just stand on his 10-point solution for the Christians.

Said Khalid, “This 10-point solution concerns the Al-Kitab but because the ‘Allah’ word is in the Al-Kitab, we hope that the Prime Minister will come up with the right solution that will please everyone. Everyone should just back-off and let PM Najib handle the issue by displaying his wisdom in times like this.”

Nevertheless, the biggest issue of this year must surely be the price hikes issue.

“The price increase is due to the Prime Minister of course because he is the only one who has the power to reduce subsidies although he likes to term it as ‘subsidy rationalisation’. If he is not to be blamed, can we then blame the mosquito?” quipped Nizar Jamaluddin, the former Perak Menteri Besar from PAS.

It is thus a no-brainer that the Prime Minister has committed the biggest blunder of his tenure with these price hikes.

Another recent blunder, albeit at a much smaller scale is committed by DAP’s Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng although it is a blunder because the BN media made it out to be so.

Via malicious propaganda, BN strategists have used the media to spin Lim’s car issue in such a way so as to portray him in a bad light.

BN’s motive is of course to capture the Malay votes by turning the latter against the opposition.

To turn the crisis into an opportunity, a PAS friend had suggested that Lim put up the car with the ‘PG1′ number plate for auction via open bidding for about two weeks or so. Surely this car can fetch a high price and the proceeds can then be channelled back into the state coffers.

This move will silence everyone and put the matter to rest once and for all.

Moreover it would be uncomfortable for Lim to use the said car as it had given him unfavourable publicity.

Also committing a blunder due to bad timing is PKR’s Selangor MB, Khalid Ibrahim for approving a massive pay hike for Selangor’s state office bearers and state assemblymen. It is the quantum of the increment that is inappropriate at times like this and therefore the quantum has to be scaled down.

Major tasks ahead

In difficult times, leaders from both sides of the political divide must be wise and prudent in spending.

Lavish birthday celebrations or weddings will be frowned upon by the rakyat especially by those who are trying hard to cope with the rising cost of living.

Wealth-flaunting will anger the poor and the low-wage earners who are trying to make ends meet.

People will be unhappy if they see their leaders spending frivolously and wasting taxpayers’ money. People’s mood will also turn nasty if there are anymore price hikes and traders too must not raise prices indiscriminately or indulge in profiteering.

PM Najib may have set off a chain of events which can easily spiral beyond control and now he has a gigantic task ahead.

For the good of the nation, he must come up with solutions for the rakyat pertaining to the issues of God and money. As the Prime Minister, the responsibility is on his shoulders and the onus is on him to come up with good solutions fast.

It is pointless for him to talk empty rhetoric now but the rakyat will surely work with him if he has good solutions and the expectations are high that he will apply the principles of ‘People First’ and ‘Janji Ditepati’ (Promises Fulfilled) in all that he does.

As for Pakatan Rakyat, a Central Strategy Team ought to be formed fast with five representatives each from PAS, PKR and DAP and two from PSM (Party Sosialis Malaysia). Meetings are to be held once a week in view of the fluidity of the Malaysian political scenario.

After the team is formed, a united response can be given in every political situation instead of the ad-hoc response currently in practice now. There must be more cohesion and synchronisation among Pakatan’s component parties.

At the end of the day, Malaysians can only make great strides forward if we have a good government and a strong opposition acting as a watchdog for check and balance.

Currently the situation is in a mess from both sides of the political divide and the nation is actually heading nowhere.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist.