Need for refreshing new politics in Malaysia

The continuing war of words between politicians show that they are devoid of new progressive political ideas, and are not going to take the country out of the current doldrums, ever.

COMMENT

By Lim Sue Goan

As Kim Jong Nam’s assassination takes precedence, domestic politics has retreated to the background, of late. The killing has successfully diverted the public’s attention from the fact that the country’s politics is about to move into a crucial phase.

Umno sent the minister in charge of religious affairs, Jamil Khir Baharom, to PAS’ rally in support of RUU355 on Feb 18, showing that the government was indeed serious about taking over PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s shariah law amendment bill.

The Dewan Rakyat will resume its session on Monday (March 6) but so far we still do not have the details of the proposed amendments. This has invariably caused the local non-Muslim community and religious organisations to be worried.

Although both PAS and Umno have promised that the amendments will have nothing to do with hudud and that the rights of non-Muslims will not be violated, RUU355 nevertheless acknowledges the country’s dual criminal and judicial systems, and will inevitably have a negative influence on national solidarity.

The cooperation between Umno and PAS over the proposed amendments to the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, or Act 355, is a kind of “political deal” where both sides get what they want: Umno’s administration remains unchallenged, and PAS’ ultimate religious objectives are fulfilled.

Such a deal illustrates the fact that the country’s politics has entered a new phase where political parties only worry about their own interests, often at the expense of the country’s future.

As a matter of fact, Umno and PAS are not the only parties engaging in such politics; the opposition is doing the same.

This is narrow-minded politics, and is outright disappointing, and it is the main reason for the political apathy among more and more Malaysians.

A study shows that only 13% of young Chinese Malaysians aged between 21 and 29 have registered themselves as voters. This compares with 80% of Malays in the same age bracket.

For all these years, Malaysian politics has been a frustrating repetition of a war of words and political gimmicks.

For example, Dr Mahathir Mohamad slammed BR1M as a form of corruption but later changed his mind. Prime Minister Najib Razak consequently called the former prime minister “U-turn champion”.

Mahathir also said DAP had requested the post of deputy prime minister (DPM) if the opposition were to win the next general election. He later said it was MCA, not DAP, that had previously wanted the DPM’s post. So, Najib called Mahathir a liar.

Former minister Zaid Ibrahim, who has just joined DAP, claimed that Mahathir was the de facto leader of the opposition pact, which DAP disagreed, while Najib tweeted that Lim Kit Siang was the actual de facto leader.

All these wars of words simply prove that our politicians are devoid of new progressive political ideas, and are not going to take the country out of the current doldrums now or in the future.

We have also seen opposition leaders demonizing Chinese investments. Many Malaysians will be out of jobs if investors stay away.

The opposition has also failed to introduce new policies and democratic philosophies. They are not going anywhere far if they cannot come up with anything more positive.

Ringgit depreciation

Meanwhile, government leaders can no longer bask in feeling good, completely ignorant of our problems.

Following the depreciation of the ringgit and recent petrol price hike, the CPI rose 3.2% in January. While Malaysians in general feel the pinch, our ministers only see the rosy picture of a 4.5% GDP growth in the last quarter of 2016.

Government statistics show 8,277,391 individuals had applied for BR1M, but, this is not something we should take pride in. It only shows that many in this country are still making very little every month.

With the ringgit continuously on the slide, we are getting further and further from the ultimate goal of a high-income nation. It is imperative that the government come up with strategies to stabilise the ringgit against other major currencies.

Recently, the former president of the Malaysian Economic Association, Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim, had proposed a trimming of the civil service in order to shrink the budgetary deficit, but the suggestion was largely ignored by the government.

Without crushing old politics and establishing new ones, this country will continue to stay stagnant forever.

Lim Sue Goan writes for Sin Chew Daily. -FMT