Anwar: First cuts would be deepest
Terence NettoPublished: Aug 9, 2010 8:42 AM | Updated: Aug 10, 2010 12:47 AM
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim tantalised a crowd of PKR supporters at a fund-raising dinner in Penang last night with glimpses of what a Pakatan Rakyat administration would do in the first six months of its empowerment.
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim tantalised a crowd of PKR supporters at a fund-raising dinner in Penang last night with glimpses of what a Pakatan Rakyat administration would do in the first six months of its empowerment.
Subsidies to independent power producers (IPPs) would be slashed following renegotiation of their contracts and the best academicians in the country, irrespective of race, would be put in charge of the 20 public universities.
“We will save a few billion ringgit in slashed subsidies to the IPPs in the first year itself,” said Anwar to cheers from about 500 diners in Bayan Baru.
“We will tell the academicians we put in charge of our universities that we will give them three years to turn standards around as otherwise they will be sacked,” said Anwar when outlining another ameliorative measure of a hypothetical Pakatan administration.
Prior to outlining the steps his government would take, Anwar explained: “People ask me if I’m sure I can bring change to this country after all the rot that has taken place. I tell them not to doubt my tenacity of purpose and sincerity of conviction.”
Anwar cautioned the multiracial crowd against the temptation of fighting Umno-BN’s racial and parochial approach to ethnic issues with a narrow parochialism of their own.
“We must look at the marginalised in this country without the racial lens that Umno-BN uses,” he advised.
“We must look at them as the poor that need to be helped. We must not fight their racialism with a parochialism of our own,” he said to rousing applause.
“Throughout history leaders and movements that fought on narrow racial grounds were successful over a short period only. Their success was temporary and they fell to their doom before long,” he added.
Widening gaps
Anwar drew the crowd’s attention to the widening gaps in income between the top strata and the bottom in each race.
“These intra-racial gaps are hugely distressing and they show the elitist character of the policies of Umno-BN,” he said.
“Our country is being governed by the rich who beget riches for their children and cronies,” he claimed.
“A Pakatan government will end this brazen plunder of national wealth and colossal waste of our resources,” he said.
Anwar cast doubt that the land deals in the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, for which former transport minister and MCA president has been indicted, could be laid at the door of one individual.
“I know the process of decision-making in the cabinet in matters of that sort,” said Anwar who was in the cabinet as full minister from the mid-1980s to his sacking in 1998.
“The chain of responsibility in matters like the land purchase in PKFZ encompasses a larger number of ministers than just one,” he said.
Subsidies to independent power producers (IPPs) would be slashed following renegotiation of their contracts and the best academicians in the country, irrespective of race, would be put in charge of the 20 public universities.
“We will save a few billion ringgit in slashed subsidies to the IPPs in the first year itself,” said Anwar to cheers from about 500 diners in Bayan Baru.“We will tell the academicians we put in charge of our universities that we will give them three years to turn standards around as otherwise they will be sacked,” said Anwar when outlining another ameliorative measure of a hypothetical Pakatan administration.
Prior to outlining the steps his government would take, Anwar explained: “People ask me if I’m sure I can bring change to this country after all the rot that has taken place. I tell them not to doubt my tenacity of purpose and sincerity of conviction.”
Anwar cautioned the multiracial crowd against the temptation of fighting Umno-BN’s racial and parochial approach to ethnic issues with a narrow parochialism of their own.
“We must look at the marginalised in this country without the racial lens that Umno-BN uses,” he advised.
“We must look at them as the poor that need to be helped. We must not fight their racialism with a parochialism of our own,” he said to rousing applause.
“Throughout history leaders and movements that fought on narrow racial grounds were successful over a short period only. Their success was temporary and they fell to their doom before long,” he added.
Widening gaps
Anwar drew the crowd’s attention to the widening gaps in income between the top strata and the bottom in each race.
“These intra-racial gaps are hugely distressing and they show the elitist character of the policies of Umno-BN,” he said.
“Our country is being governed by the rich who beget riches for their children and cronies,” he claimed.
“A Pakatan government will end this brazen plunder of national wealth and colossal waste of our resources,” he said.
Anwar cast doubt that the land deals in the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, for which former transport minister and MCA president has been indicted, could be laid at the door of one individual.
“I know the process of decision-making in the cabinet in matters of that sort,” said Anwar who was in the cabinet as full minister from the mid-1980s to his sacking in 1998.
“The chain of responsibility in matters like the land purchase in PKFZ encompasses a larger number of ministers than just one,” he said.
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