Citing PH1.0, Anwar’s aide says reforms can’t be rushed

 

Kamil Abdul Munim said the government’s performance should be assessed as a whole through economic and other indicators, as well as growing investor confidence in the nation. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A political secretary to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has come to the unity government’s defence after electoral watchdog Bersih gave it a “D” grade yesterday, saying reforms cannot be rushed.

Kamil Abdul Munim said it cannot be emphasised enough how much the government has to learn from its past experience, referring to when Pakatan Harapan (PH) first came into power after the 2018 general election (GE14).

“Reforms must be done intelligently and not hurriedly. They also have to be done based on priority according to the context and current situation,” he said in a post on X today.

Kamil said reforms were an ongoing process and the government’s performance should be assessed as a whole through economic and other indicators, as well as growing investor confidence in the nation.

“These achievements would not have been possible without the good foundations and governance laid down by the government in a careful and intelligent manner,” he said.

Kamil said the prime minister and the government were always open to “responsible” viewpoints and criticism.

“(However), statements and grading schemes that ignore the facts and latest rankings will be seen as rather hasty and shallow,” he said.

Yesterday, Bersih chairman Faisal Abdul Aziz said the unity government’s “D” grade reflected its limited progress in carrying out reforms as well as the gap between its rhetoric and action.

“We believe that a post-election unity government should not be used as an excuse to abandon all reform promises made in the manifestos of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional.

“This is especially so given the fact that there are four common major promises in both the BN and PH manifestos – which show they are in agreement – that have not been fully implemented,” he said.

The group had also ranked Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the best of the five prime ministers since 2009, placing Dr Mahathir Mohamad in second place followed by Anwar, Muhyiddin Yassin and Najib Razak.

Bersih’s report said reforms were pushed through by Ismail’s administration, including the allocation of equal development funds to the opposition, through a memorandum of understanding with PH. - FMT