Kit Siang: Even more important than ministers' is PM's 100-day report card

 

Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang has called on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to spell out the economic and social reforms he expects to be achieved in the first 100 days of his "Keluarga Malaysia" administration.

"Ismail Sabri should realise that more important than the 100-day ‘report cards’ of his jumbo-sized cabinet ministers (31 ministers and 38 deputy ministers) is his own 100-day report card as the ninth prime minister of Malaysia.

"In his special interview with senior editors, Ismail Sabri said that views via social media of ministers’ performances in their first 100 days on the job will be used to tally their overall achievement score.

"He said there were several methods that can be applied to obtain feedback and sentiment analysis, and cited the rakyat’s perception of ministers and professional surveys as some of them," Lim (above) said.

The DAP veteran, in a statement today, asked if these same criteria would be applied to Ismail Sabri himself with regard to his "report card" as the ninth prime minister of Malaysia.

Ismail Sabri was sworn in as premier on Aug 21 and, as such, his 100th day anniversary will fall on Nov 29, 2022.

"This is why I suggested that Ismail Sabri should present a 100-Day Report Card by him and his ministers to Parliament, as Parliament will still be in session for the 2022 Budget.

"There should be a full debate in Parliament on the 100-Day Report Card by Ismail Sabri and his ministers," mooted Lim.

Lim said that if Ismail Sabri would take on the challenge, it would set a new standard of accountability and responsibility by his government and ministers.

Waxing historical, Lim recounted that the 100-day concept harks back to Franklin Roosevelt's presidency in the United States from March 9 to June 15, 1933.

At the time, a major portion of New Deal legislation was enacted to address the economic and social ravages of the Great Depression.

"The only slogan which had been coined by Ismail Sabri since his premiership is that of ‘Keluarga Malaysia’" he said.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob

Lim added his belief that any evaluation of the success or otherwise of Ismail Sabri’s first 100 days as the ninth prime minister will include an assessment of the following issues:

1. Success in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, as in bringing down the daily new cases to double-digit numbers and daily deaths to single-digits.

2. Success in implementing the confidence-supply-reform (CSR) memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the prime minister and Pakatan Harapan leaders on Sept 13, 2021 to focus single-mindedly on the pandemic and reset the political landscape with institutional and parliamentary reforms.

3. Progress in making “Keluarga Malaysia” a meaningful concept informing all government policies and measures.

4. Promote Rukunegara principles of nation-building in a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural Malaysia and requiring all cabinet ministers and MPs to declare full support for the principles.

5. Greater focus on the war against corruption and kleptocracy in Malaysia, with the objective for Malaysia to be among the top 30 non-corrupt countries in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2030.

6. A concrete plan to end the abuses and deviations of the New Economic Policy.

7. Scrapping the 51 percent bumiputera ownership requirement for freight forwarding companies.

8. A policy assurance to all non-Muslim religions that there will be no law or government measure that will undermine Article 11 of the Constitution on freedom of religion. - Mkini