MAHATHIR CARVES UP UMNO AGAIN: PRO-MAT HASAN YOUTH CHIEF GIVES DR M 10 REASONS TO KICK OUT DAP & PKR – FORM NEW GOVT WITH UMNO & PAS AS THE NEW ANCHOR PARTNERS?

KUALA LUMPUR – Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today gave 10 reasons on why he thinks Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should remove the latter’s allies DAP and PKR from the ruling government, with the purported reason of restoring Malay dignity.

Asyraf, a former deputy minister, took to Facebook to blame Umno’s political foes PKR and DAP and some of their leaders for allegedly insulting the Malays and challenging the Malays’ special position, among other things.

“Based on the reasons above, Umno Youth once again urges Tun Mahathir Mohamed to do the right thing this time before it is too late to reunite the Malays by removing DAP leaders and certain racist PKR politicians from his government in order to restore Malay dignity as stated in the Kongres Maruah Melayu (Malay Dignity Congress) today!” the opposition party leader said on his official Facebook page.

Asyraf did not name the PKR politicians that he had alleged to be “racist”.

All seven DAP politicians specifically cited by Asyraf as having allegedly acted offensively were non-Malays, namely Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, his political secretary Tony Pua, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran, Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming, Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi and Mengkibol assemblyman Chew Chong Sin

In his list of 10 reasons, Asyraf had among other things pinpointed the positions of Lim and Pua in the Finance Ministry, which he claimed was allegedly generally viewed as eroding the economic interests of the Malays and Bumiputera community.

“As an example, the sale of strategic assets owned by Bumiputera-Islam institutions and open tender carried out at all levels of government procurement had limited thousands of Bumiputera contractors that often face capital and cash flow constraints,” he said.

Asyraf also claimed that Bahasa Melayu as the national language was being insulted by the alleged use of Mandarin and Tamil by DAP and PKR leaders in official letters and statements.

He also blamed DAP and PKR leaders for Malaysia’s brief ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court — which only goes against the four most serious international crimes including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, insisting that the international treaty which Malaysia later retracted official support for was purportedly an erosion of the Malay rulers’ position.

He also blamed DAP and PKR leaders for Malaysia having almost adopted the United Nations’ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which he claimed goes against the Federal Constitution’s Article 153 on the special position of the Malays and Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak.

The efforts to adopt the Rome Statute and ICERD were actually initiatives by the Malaysian government under Pakatan Harapan, and not any single political parties. ICERD also allows for affirmative action policies if necessary.

Initiatives for Malaysia to officially show its support and ratify the Rome Statute had actually started since the days of the Malaysian government under the now-defeated Barisan Nasional coalition, of which Asyraf’s party Umno is a member of.

In Asyraf’s list of 10 reasons, he also cited instances when DAP leaders criticised the union between Malay-based parties Umno and PAS, alleging that their remarks had fuelled racial sentiments.

https://www.malaymail.com

Aggressive execution needed to hit SPV2030 targets

THOUGH the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (SPV2030) has laudable goals to reduce the gap between the rich and poor, and increase B40 households’ wages, the targets are hard to hit, warned economists.

They told The Malaysian Insight this is because of the present structure of the domestic economy and sluggish growth worldwide, which heavily impacts trade-dependent nations like Malaysia.

Just like the economic blueprints that came before, much will depend on how SPV2030’s policies are executed and whether the government has the will to push through tough reforms, they said.

But if the government is transparent, able to stick to its plan and is aggressive enough, SPV2030 can boost incomes for the country’s working class and narrow the wealth gap, said Dr Yeah Kim Leng of Sunway University.

“Overall, SPV2030 picks up from what Vision 2020 left unaccomplished,” said Yeah, who heads the Economics Studies Programme at the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia.

“More open, transparent and meritocratic policies, with a strong focus on low-income groups, will be crucial to achieve the agenda, culminating in the creation of a truly dignified and united nation by 2030.”

He was referring to one of SPV2030’s 10 targets, which is to double the median monthly income of the B40 group to RM5,800 in 10 years.

SPV2030, Pakatan Harapan’s economic agenda to transform the economy in a decade, was launched by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday.

Its other targets include:

* Raising the labour contribution (CE) to economic output, or gross domestic product, to 48% from the current 35.7%;

The CE level is a reflection of the value of workers’ wages relative to the economy. Developed economies have CE values of between 45% and 51%.

* Reducing the income gap between Bumiputera, Chinese and Indian households, so that they are equal;

* Achieving a 4.7% growth rate per year for the next 10 years, so as to generate a nominal GDP of RM3.4 trillion by 2030; and,

* Reducing the disparity in wages between the richer west coast peninsula states and the rest of the country.

Women taking pictures in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya. Economists say SPV2030’s targets, such as closing the income gaps between ethnic groups and regions, are laudable. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, October 7, 2019.

More realistic

SPV2030 aims to achieve these targets through seven strategic thrusts, which include restructuring the business and industry ecosystem, boosting key economic growth activities and developing human capital.

Associate Professor Yusuf Saari of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) said SPV2030 appears to be a return to the principle of “growth with distribution”, ensuring that the economy grows, and at the same time, everyone gets a fair share of the benefits.

He said the economy needs to be overhauled, and feels that SPV2030 addresses this.

“But what is most important is its implementation, as its targets are ambitious.

“An example is the CE contribution to GDP of 48%, when in 2018, it was only 35.7%. In 2015, it was 34.9%. This signals that the economy needs aggressive restructuring to meet this target.”

Yeah echoed this, saying the government’s ability to ensure that salary increments amount to three-quarters of productivity gains may be constrained, especially in the case of wage-setting in the private sector.

Achieving this target will depend on how much high-value, technology-driven investment can be brought in to help increase productivity, so that firms are able to pay high wages, he said.

“The other targets, such as closing the income gaps between ethnic groups and regions, are laudable, but wide differences in population size and growth rates will make them hard to achieve.

“Greater attention should, therefore, be directed at intra-ethnic disparities.”

However, he believes that SPV2030’s GDP growth target of 4.7% per year is realistic and in line with the country’s current growth potential.

“But as the economic base grows larger, it is harder to maintain the same growth rate. The uncertain and fragile global economic landscape also casts a long shadow on trade-dependent economies, such as Malaysia.”

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/