PSM puts forward ‘new deal’ for country's post-Covid recovery

 

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has launched a new recovery plan with proposals to enhance the country’s social security and rebuild our basic support pillars for the rakyat’s well-being.

The plan is called “Kempen Pemulihan Nasional – Peka Nasib Kami! Rakyat Minta Lima!”

PSM secretary-general A Sivarajan (above), in a statement released in conjunction with the launch today, claimed that the pandemic has exposed the failures of capitalism, with many losing jobs and social security in the last two years.

“The government in its long-standing conviction to the neoliberal path has been detracting from its responsibility of providing basic essential services for the rakyat and promoting privatisation of public services.

“After three decades of aggressive privatisation, we are left with a weakened public healthcare system, expensive education, workers with dismantled safeguards, an increase in precarious work, unaffordable housing and a widening disparity between the rich and poor.

“The pandemic shattered the already weak social security system, throwing poor households and even the M40 into sudden poverty,” said Sivarajan.

Further, he argued that the hard lessons of the pandemic need to be understood and acted upon so that we don’t make the same mistakes again.

“These experiences have taught us that we cannot return to business as usual and instead take efforts to revamp our economic and development model seriously in order to make ourselves more resilient to future crises.

“The political and corporate elite who were the least affected economically and socially by the pandemic will not be jolted to offer a progressive alternative for Malaysia.

“The neoliberal, corporate-driven economic model has been accepted by both political coalitions. It was merely a change of guards with minimal attempt for structural change,” he added.

Five key pillars

Sivarajan said the government should not stop at only extending easy credit to the banks and giving cash incentives for businesses to preserve and create jobs.

The party established that there were five key pillars to its plan, which include empowering social security, a job guarantee scheme, housing as a human right, strengthening public healthcare, and immediate action to tackle the climate crisis.

This involved solutions such as introducing a modified universal basic income, introducing a law against anti-discrimination in employment, increasing the Health Ministry’s budget and increasing public transport infrastructure and ridership.

The campaign was launched concurrently today in cities across the nation such as Penang, Kedah, Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. - Mkini