YOURSAY 'The fact that thousands queue up for the RM500 cash handout is an indication that wealth accumulation continues to be in the hands of a few.'

PM says economy at risk from weak GE result

your sayTehachapi: PM Najib Razak, so far your campaigns have been heavy on emotions, but weak on persuasion, argument and conviction.

I sincerely believe that should you change now to appeal to reason and to portray yourself as a leader forMalaysia's future generations, you might win this contest.

It is ridiculous to sow doubts over the loyalty of the opposition party and to cast aspersions on their commitment to this nation.

Why can't the Umno-BN respect the opposition as their worthy opponents? The current PM and former PM ought to acknowledge their own limitations and that they don't have the monopoly on great ideas, intelligence and good policies.

What a political contest seeks to achieve is to arrive at the best ideas and policies to develop the country and make us stronger.

With this pervasive and unprecedented money distribution schemes along with rampant vote buying, threats and political intimidation, we implicitly know that the Umno-BN government is in trouble and more and more uncertain about the outcome of the GE13.

Najib himself is unsure if he will keep his job after GE13. Because of this, the peddlers of doom now appear to lurk in every corner in the corridors of power.

Daily, we get to hear more lies and horror stories of impending stock market collapse, exodus of FDI (foreign direct investment) and loss of national reputation should the opposition win and form the next federal government.

How real are these pronouncements or are they just fear mongering and misinformation aimed at coercing and deceiving the voters into making the wrong choice?

The cause of democracy is better served by letting the people know the truth. Only then will we have legitimacy in government.

Telestai!: Najib, if I were you, I would not harbour any hope of winning big. The best outcome for BN is a slim victory and the worst outcome is a major loss.

Your transformation programme is nothing more than an alphabet soup littered with acronyms like ETP, GTP, NKRA, KPI, BR1M, etc. The man-on-the-street needs to see and feel the impact of any transformation programme before they can take you seriously.

When the Australian government laid out a plan to counter the economic crisis in 2008, we could see the economy jump start literally overnight.

We could see municipal golf courses being refurbished, schools having new extensions and new roads being built. There was no deluge of acronyms, just two words - stimulus programme.

Maplesyrup: To me, we don't need a strong government, as we already have that for 55 years.

We need government leaders who are accountable to the people, and the sooner we have a two-party system the better. If the economy suffers (which I doubt very much), it is a small price to pay. With good governance, Malaysian economy will have an even brighter future.

Clever Voter: On the contrary, if the Najib government is return to power, Malaysia indebtedness will continue, structural weaknesses from the quality of human capital to overgrown civil service will worsen, and outflow of funds will continue.

The standard of living is not likely to improve because cost will go up, and our productivity is unlikely to be any better.

The fact that thousands queue up for the RM500 cash handout is an indication that wealth accumulation continues to be in the hands of a few.

Anonymous #85701391: Umno-BN has governed this country for almost 56 years to the day. The PM is now asking us to give him and Umno-BN a strong mandate for another five years on a promise to "transform" the present government.

Are we being asked to forgive and forget the 56 years of "wrong" government? Or is he reaching out to us to help him pressure powerbrokers in Umno to allow him to continue as PM after GE13?

Najib, the answer is simple - get all the cronies to return all the ‘stolen' and ‘corruption' money to the Treasury and give up all those ‘inflated price' awards as part of your ‘transformation' plan and then we, ordinary Malaysians, will have no reason to doubt your sincerity.

Absalom: This pleading for 'more time' and 'a strong majority' and using terms like ‘reform' and ‘transformation' is a load of hogwash. What transformation or reform are you talking about?

This country is so rich, with a huge oil revenue, a broad-based manufacturing sector, well-developed agricultural sector and other natural resources, and a small population of less than 30 million.

So what reforms does the country need? You have already taken the national debt to record levels despite all our wealth. Corruption is rampant, crime has gone up to a whole new level where people feel vulnerable even stepping out of their homes. Education is in shambles, and there are two sets of law - one for you and one for us.

The only reform this country urgently needs is to get rid of the BN culture of corruption, along with all the corrupt power brokers who have swindled much of the country's wealth.

If you remove the forces that have ruined the country, the economy will take care of itself.

Bluemountains: You said you want a stronger majority to curb the budget deficit. But you have been borrowing and spending like there is no tomorrow with your BRIM and pay increases, etc, just to win over voters.

Politicians just simply don't make good economists.

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