Work harder at communicating achievements on reforms, govt told

 

Political analyst James Chin says the government must “double down” on reforms while IIUM’s Syaza Shukri says it must consider the sentiments of the people.

PETALING JAYA: A political analyst has called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government to work harder at communicating the implementation and progress of reforms to meet the public’s high expectations.

Syaza Shukri of the International Islamic University Malaysia said the Pakatan Harapan-led government must show more tangibly its commitment to fulfilling promises of reform made by the coalition in the lead up to the 2022 general election.

“Perhaps certain ministries are making efforts behind the scenes, but I feel there needs to be more effort from the government in communicating the milestones achieved and that they are moving towards that (fulfilling the promised reforms),” she told FMT.

However, Syaza warned that Malaysia should not rush into implementing reforms, citing Russia and Venezuela as examples of countries that have moved too quickly.

“When they enacted changes too hastily, it led to dissent among certain segments of the population, resulting in the rejection of the existing government,” she said.

Syaza said Malaysia must instead adopt an approach that carefully considers the sentiments of its people.

On Sunday, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said party members must learn from the failure of reform movements in countries whose leaders ignored their people’s original struggles after taking over the reins of the government.

In a speech at a special convention held to mark the party’s 25th anniversary, Saifuddin said various reform movements in Europe and Africa had failed due to the incompetence of leaders who had failed to properly manage their peoples’ expectations.

Meanwhile, James Chin of the University of Tasmania commended Saifuddin for readily acknowledging shortcomings in the government’s delivery of promised reforms.

Nonetheless, he said the government must work past its “sluggish progress” to fulfil its commitments.

“The bigger issue is what the rest of the coalition is going to do about it (delivering the reforms).”

He called on the entire government to double down on reforms instead of constantly pandering to the right wing. - FMT