Kit Siang: Unite to face ‘almost perfect’ storm

Malaysia has now not only a minority government but the most unpopular Prime Minister in history heading a fractured nation, fractured administration and fractured Umno.

KUALA LUMPUR: If Malaysia is to ride out the “almost perfect storm”, headed towards the nation, said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang, the people must unite and transcend race, religion, region and politics to save the country from becoming a rogue and failed state, where there’s a collapse of the rule of law, continued breakdown of the independence and professionalism of key national institutions and rampant corruption and abuse of power.

The question is whether there are enough Malaysians left to save the country, said Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP. “The alternative was to suffer the fate of being a rogue and failed state.”

Lim was referring to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar who used the term “an almost perfect storm” to apparently describe the economic quandary the country finds itself in under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. Lim alleged that it was Najib who was responsible for this state of affairs. Wahid Omar, however, assured that Malaysia was better placed than during the 1997/98 Asian Currency Crisis to ride out the hard times.

There’s one great difference in the “almost perfect storm” today compared with the crisis the country faced in 1997/98, said Lim. “Malaysia has now not only a minority government but the most unpopular Prime Minister in history heading a fractured nation, fractured administration and fractured Umno.”

Nevertheless, he added perhaps begrudgingly, that congratulations are in order for Malaysia moving up two spots in terms of global competitiveness, ranking 18th now, up from last year’s 20th position in the Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Malaysia was now ranked ahead of Belgium (ranked No. 19) and Luxembourg (No. 20).

The global ranking in competitiveness aside, said Lim, the fact is that there’s a lengthening list of factors to accentuate the “almost perfect storm” of a crisis of confidence.

Briefly, these include the ringgit continuing to head south, the decline in Bank Negara’s reserves, concerns that foreigner investors may pull out as much as USD1 billion this week as bonds mature, the two elephants in the room viz the RM50 billion 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal and the RM2.6 billion political donation controversy, the end of Najib’s 1Malaysia, transformation and moderation policies, and the rise of extremism and the growing polarisation of the country in the peninsula.

“It must not be forgotten that Najib is under investigation in the US and several countries abroad for wrongdoing,” warned Lim.

Meanwhile, at home, he has been covering up wrongdoing, sweeping them under the carpet, and going after any of the authorities concerned when they get too close to him in their investigations. “It’s clear that there’s a lack of consumer sentiment as a result of this, and a lack of investor confidence.”

“This can also be seen in the fate of the ringgit.”