Govt has lost its way, rues academician

 

An academician has expressed concern over the country’s economic performance and opined that the government was increasingly losing direction in its efforts to bring the country back on track.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia political science professor Mohammad Agus Yusoff (above) said the government needs to “wake up” and form firm and clear policies to help solve the issues plaguing the country.

“I do not see us being on the right track. How can we fix things if the leaders are busy politicking, busy with the date of the election and busy blaming each other?

“I have not seen a clear government policy on resolving the crises of food, employment, the plummeting value of the ringgit, and the rising cost of living.

“What I see are just a few statements from leaders which are not consistent with each other,” Agus said in a posting on Facebook today.

He added that the government should focus on policies meant to solve basic issues faced by the rakyat.

Malaysia is currently experiencing disruptions to the production, supply and logistics due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The situation is exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which has pushed the world inflation rate to among the highest levels in the last 40 years.

Instead of looking for solutions, Agus said government leaders are issuing "painful" statements.

“Sometimes I feel like I am being treated like a child, even if I am not fooled by the leaders’ statements.

“For example, in trying to solve this issue with chicken prices and other complaints from the rakyat, I consider the statements and suggestions from the leaders as jokes only. Unfortunately, their jokes are not mischievous, but painful,” he said.

He added that he was “amazed” that the government can publicly say the country’s economic growth is strong and sustainable, even though Bank Negara Malaysia has raised the OPR (overnight policy rate) to two percent, the ringgit has depreciated up to RM4.38 against the US dollar, there is an outflow of foreign investors, and the prices of goods are expected to rise up to 60 percent, among other issues.

“How is it strong and sustainable? I do not see this. What I see is a government that has lost its way, a few incompetent ministers holding onto strategic portfolio, the rakyat becoming more pressured and a country that is facing problems non-stop,” he said.

Agus said he was worried about Malaysia becoming Sri Lanka 2.0, adding that he could not imagine our country being on the verge of bankruptcy, with sky-high inflation rates and a worsened food crisis. - Mkini