90% KPI score? Give the breakdown, PM told

 

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob looking at a summary of employment statistics at the Malaysian Family Career Carnival. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has provoked embarrassing questions and some ridicule with an announcement that his administration scored 90% in key performance indicators (KPIs) it had set for itself in its first 100 days of office.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) president N Marimuthu said it was absurd to have the government grade itself.

Speaking to FMT, he said: “The rakyat should be the one giving the score. How can the government set its own question paper, mark it and say it scored A-plus?”

Pointing to rising food prices, Marimuthu said the government should remember that “the people are king” and should get their opinion on its performance.

Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel also said it was strange for the government to carry out a self-grading exercise and claim to have achieved a 90% KPI score.

She said C4 would like to ask how Ismail came up with the percentage.

She urged him to publicise the details on the report card so that the public could make their own judgement.

Subang MP Wong Chen of PKR called for the publication of the 140 key targets the government had achieved.

“I am sceptical of the claim because I don’t feel the overall economy is now doing much better than it was 100 days ago,” he said. “There is a persistent labour shortage and everyone is upset with high food prices.

“There is also a perception that the leadership and administration is simply not inspiring confidence.”

Wong is the deputy chairman of the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on finance and economy.

He also said Ismail’s Keluarga Malaysia campaign had been plagued with race-based policies, from imposing liquor and gambling limitations to expanding Bumiputera policies under Budget 2022.

Economist Barjoyai Bardai of Universiti Tun Razak asked if the 90% score represented just government planning or if it involved projects and schemes implemented.

“This is because we see a lot of programmes such as subsidies and aid announced in 2020 but being implemented in 2021,” he said. “Are the delayed implementations included in the KPIs?”

He also said the government had yet to achieve its target of providing 500,000 jobs this year. He noted that the target was set last year.

Meanwhile, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang urged Ismail to release details of the report card and to reveal the scores of each ministry.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said if he fails to do this, the 90% score given to the cabinet remains an arbitrary figure. - FMT