Anwar's antics vs Umno's crisis
Mustapha OngPublished: Sep 29, 2008 1:49 PM | Updated: Sep 29, 2008 2:00 PM
In this article, I am going to raise two relevant points of deliberation based on Anwar Ibrahim's open challenge to the government as well as all those who had tracked his diplomatic runs in the United States from the time when he was appointed as deputy prime minister/finance minister in the cabinet after the1994 general election.
In this article, I am going to raise two relevant points of deliberation based on Anwar Ibrahim's open challenge to the government as well as all those who had tracked his diplomatic runs in the United States from the time when he was appointed as deputy prime minister/finance minister in the cabinet after the1994 general election.
However, the majority of our people felt that Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister of over 22 years had committed the biggest political blunder when he appointed Anwar as the DPM/finance minister in his cabinet. Anwar as the DPM should not have been appointed as the finance minister, which was one of the two most important cabinet positions, the other being the minister of home affairs.
The finance portfolio is traditionally a powerful position in terms of appropriation of national development budget and fund allocations nationwide. It is more often than not based on patronage, through political connections demanding absolute loyalty and support to Umno, through certain senior politicians in the Barisa Nasional government.
Rampant acts of nepotism and cronyism are the norms of doing business without professional ethics, expertise and transparency. Selected middlemen and mushroom agencies became multi-millionaires overnight with all that corrupted wealth and money.
The financial system perpetuated open and hidden corruption by way of closed tenders and abuse of power by the incumbent minister and his cronies, in order to maintain political leverage for desired party positions, from Umno federal, state and divisional levels, as well as those aligned to the elected/appointed members of the Umno supreme council.
Nepotism and favourtism
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the practice of nepotism and favoritism for the awards of lucrative tenders as reported in the local and foreign media still exist. These alleged practice of corruption with individual and family-related companies being implicated as reported in the media have never been challenged in a court of law.
It is interesting to note that Pak Lah has been trying to institute a check and balance mechanism through various transparency institutions, both public and private sectors with new ethics, pertaining to contracts of procurement, services and doing other multi level business and enterprises.
I hope the prime minister will indemnify the negative criticism against his family members in business, who have been blasted by some frustrated Umnoputras and the opposition parties.
In certain countries including New Zealand, the practice of awarding tenders to members of the PM or ministers’ relatives or family are given but only after due diligence and transparency. Malaysia has yet to achieve this level of transparency, with open political patronage and subject to parliamentary scrutiny through various select committees and agencies.
Malaysia was an active and supportive member of the powerful IMF/Word Bank in the early years until Anwar was sacked from the cabinet in Sept 1998, which had soured our global financial relationship with the international financial entities.
Today senior officials of IMF/World Bank are reacting with all kinds of negative perceptions against Malaysia’s economic and financial growth and national development. We hope that with Najib Abdul Razak as the new finance minister, Malaysia will restore the current lukewarm financial relations with IMF/World Bank, despite the current disturbing political and economic situation of the country created by Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat.
Political, economic and social stability
Some Malaysians, especially the erratic and self-centered politicians should change their attitude and mentality to cooperate and assist the government’s effort and national agenda in restoring the nation’s political, economic and social stability. Too much politics in order to achieve one’s political ambition is detrimental to the nation’s continued progress and stability.
Anwar being the current Opposition Leader should provide legitimate check and balance to the BN government through the parliamentary process, instead of destabilizing the political, economic and social conditions of the country, created by himself and his opposition allies in Pakatan Rakyat.
The people are suffering due to uncontrolled inflation and price increases of essential commodities, primarily due to the current political uncertainties with all kinds of conspiracies and wild rumours created by Anwar’s ultimate agenda to overthrow the BN government. In the process, many innocent people have been implicated, with absolute confusion caused by our political leaders and their supporters from the BN government, as well as the opposition alliance.
Complementing the above political scenario which had deteriorated with the government’s ability to provide continued good and stable governance, the craze for bidding for a stake in Umno’s leadership and ultimate political power will further affect the credibility of the BN government.
Party elections in Umno, MCA, Gerakan and MIC are currently being scheduled before the end of this year or early next year. This could further erode the status and stability of the political parties concerned and may badly impact the governance of this nation.
All party elections to be held this year should be deferred, as the situation has created further political confusion and economic uncertainties to the people and nation.
However, the majority of our people felt that Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister of over 22 years had committed the biggest political blunder when he appointed Anwar as the DPM/finance minister in his cabinet. Anwar as the DPM should not have been appointed as the finance minister, which was one of the two most important cabinet positions, the other being the minister of home affairs.The finance portfolio is traditionally a powerful position in terms of appropriation of national development budget and fund allocations nationwide. It is more often than not based on patronage, through political connections demanding absolute loyalty and support to Umno, through certain senior politicians in the Barisa Nasional government.
Rampant acts of nepotism and cronyism are the norms of doing business without professional ethics, expertise and transparency. Selected middlemen and mushroom agencies became multi-millionaires overnight with all that corrupted wealth and money.
The financial system perpetuated open and hidden corruption by way of closed tenders and abuse of power by the incumbent minister and his cronies, in order to maintain political leverage for desired party positions, from Umno federal, state and divisional levels, as well as those aligned to the elected/appointed members of the Umno supreme council.
Nepotism and favourtism
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the practice of nepotism and favoritism for the awards of lucrative tenders as reported in the local and foreign media still exist. These alleged practice of corruption with individual and family-related companies being implicated as reported in the media have never been challenged in a court of law.It is interesting to note that Pak Lah has been trying to institute a check and balance mechanism through various transparency institutions, both public and private sectors with new ethics, pertaining to contracts of procurement, services and doing other multi level business and enterprises.
I hope the prime minister will indemnify the negative criticism against his family members in business, who have been blasted by some frustrated Umnoputras and the opposition parties.
In certain countries including New Zealand, the practice of awarding tenders to members of the PM or ministers’ relatives or family are given but only after due diligence and transparency. Malaysia has yet to achieve this level of transparency, with open political patronage and subject to parliamentary scrutiny through various select committees and agencies.
Malaysia was an active and supportive member of the powerful IMF/Word Bank in the early years until Anwar was sacked from the cabinet in Sept 1998, which had soured our global financial relationship with the international financial entities.
Today senior officials of IMF/World Bank are reacting with all kinds of negative perceptions against Malaysia’s economic and financial growth and national development. We hope that with Najib Abdul Razak as the new finance minister, Malaysia will restore the current lukewarm financial relations with IMF/World Bank, despite the current disturbing political and economic situation of the country created by Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat.
Political, economic and social stability
Some Malaysians, especially the erratic and self-centered politicians should change their attitude and mentality to cooperate and assist the government’s effort and national agenda in restoring the nation’s political, economic and social stability. Too much politics in order to achieve one’s political ambition is detrimental to the nation’s continued progress and stability.
Anwar being the current Opposition Leader should provide legitimate check and balance to the BN government through the parliamentary process, instead of destabilizing the political, economic and social conditions of the country, created by himself and his opposition allies in Pakatan Rakyat. The people are suffering due to uncontrolled inflation and price increases of essential commodities, primarily due to the current political uncertainties with all kinds of conspiracies and wild rumours created by Anwar’s ultimate agenda to overthrow the BN government. In the process, many innocent people have been implicated, with absolute confusion caused by our political leaders and their supporters from the BN government, as well as the opposition alliance.
Complementing the above political scenario which had deteriorated with the government’s ability to provide continued good and stable governance, the craze for bidding for a stake in Umno’s leadership and ultimate political power will further affect the credibility of the BN government.
Party elections in Umno, MCA, Gerakan and MIC are currently being scheduled before the end of this year or early next year. This could further erode the status and stability of the political parties concerned and may badly impact the governance of this nation.
All party elections to be held this year should be deferred, as the situation has created further political confusion and economic uncertainties to the people and nation.
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