The fall of Najib's BN government was heralded and celebrated by the peoples of Malaysia regardless of race and religion. It was a new beginning for a new government under the new leadership comprising Bersatu, PKR, Amanah and DAP with new Malaysia manifestos and beginnings. The previous government was beset by accusations of kleptocracy, misuse of power, mismanagement, and corruption. All Malaysians have joined hands through the democratic means to dismantle the tyranny inflicted upon the people by the previous alleged corrupt regime. After one year of running the government, the euphoria has died down and the reality starts to creep in. The high expectations hoped from the new government were beginning to die down with nothing much to show to the voters. The Malaysian people are now beginning to lose hope of the new government. What they expected from the new ruling party did not come trickling thru and people are beginning to question the grand promises that were made in the manifestos during the election campaigns.
Can the new PH government survive the next GE 15 election with the new expectations of the people? Will the PH government be known as a one-term government. With what is swelling on the ground and meeting the peoples around me, I truly believe that the PH government will not be able to continue running the government for more than a term. These are some of the reasons why the new govt will not last longer than a term.
For one, it is perceived by the people that the new PH government does not keep its promises. During the election campaign, the people were promised by the PH election machinery that the price of petrol will be lowered to RM 150 a liter but this was never done. The PH government instead would in a few months begin to float the price of Ron 95 which would definitely result in higher fuel prices. Now a large majority of the people especially the B40 group would not be able to enjoy the fuel subsidies by the government and prices of other basic things are expected to increase dramatically.
The same kind of promises was also made to the young people that PTPTN payment, a soft loans for the university students, would be abolished or reduced but this promise was also not kept by the PH government. Instead, now they are telling these young people who have elected them to pay back the money they borrowed or else they would be blacklisted. Another example of promises not kept also with regard to the APs for cars imported into the country. The PH had promised during the elections that the AP system (one contributor of the high price of cars in Malaysia) would be abolished to reduce the prices of cars but now when running the govt they have changed their tunes and instead have decided to continue with the old system. The irony is that they decided to award more APs to other well-connected people. These are some of the promises made by PH that are not kept by the new government and they have been questioned by the masses in the country. All these unkept promises have made PH less likable by Malaysians.
The same kind of promises was also made to the young people that PTPTN payment, a soft loans for the university students, would be abolished or reduced but this promise was also not kept by the PH government. Instead, now they are telling these young people who have elected them to pay back the money they borrowed or else they would be blacklisted. Another example of promises not kept also with regard to the APs for cars imported into the country. The PH had promised during the elections that the AP system (one contributor of the high price of cars in Malaysia) would be abolished to reduce the prices of cars but now when running the govt they have changed their tunes and instead have decided to continue with the old system. The irony is that they decided to award more APs to other well-connected people. These are some of the promises made by PH that are not kept by the new government and they have been questioned by the masses in the country. All these unkept promises have made PH less likable by Malaysians.
Another reason why it is clearly a one-term government is due to the introduction of many new unpopular policies that do not gell well with Malaysia as a Muslim country. One of the things that the new govt introduced was on the ICERD, a rights convention. This has created unhappiness amongst Muslim communities in Malaysia. PAS, one of the opposition parties, took advantage of the uneasiness of the people by organizing ICERD rallies throughout Malaysia and the biggest was in KL where hundreds of thousands of people mostly Muslims supported the rally. The govt then decided to do a U-turn and decided not to ratify the ICERD convention for now. The same situation applies to the ROME statute move. Out of a sudden, the new govt announced publicly that the statute would be signed by the govt but a few weeks later they decided to backtrack from going through because it has created anger amongst the Muslims and the royalty in the country. It was argued in the newspapers that Majlis Raja-Raja or the Royal Council was trying to topple the govt if they continued the move to recognize it.
The Malays who form the majority of the voters and the population also perceived that the new govt is actually run by DAP, one of the partners of the coalition. The perception is influenced by the most important posts given to the DAP, which is controlled mostly by Chinese. The DAP party is given the most prized posts such as that of the Finance ministry. All projects implemented in the country would have to go through the Finance ministry. Without the approval of the Finance minister, Mr. Lim Guan Eng a Chinese, no new projects can ever take- off. This to the majority is not something healthy and that a Chinese has the position to veto any plans made by anybody including the Malay majority. To make matters worse the Malays see that the Finance minister (Lim Guan Eng) has been pumping millions of ringgit to Chinese schools without any notifications to the govt or to the Ministry of Education. This is like challenging the Malay control of the government.
The Malays also perceived that the new govt is not protecting the Malays and Islam. This actually stems from step taken not taken by the government. It is perceived by the Muslim majority that when some non-Muslims question or attack certain things about Islam, no actions were taken by the government. They only see Muslim government ministers would come together to support non-muslim temples or churches but not the Masjid. They also see that the govt would take very fast when Muslims attack or question the non-Muslims but act very slowly Islam or Muslim is attacked.
The stupid actions by incompetent PH ministers were also seen as weaknesses on the part of the new govt. To them, the actions taken by the ministers are not reflective of their intellectual capabilities. Most of the things done by the PH ministers were petty like the ruling requiring students to wear black shoes to the school by the Education minister. They were also not happy when one of the PH ministers suggested that a flying car would be designed and introduced and requiring millions of ringgit to be spent on research and development. The people are also not happy when Theresa Kok, a primary industries minister, suggested that Malaysians should drink a spoonful of palm every day for good health in order to jack up the price of plummeting palm oil prices. They were also not happy with the Sports minister Syed Sadig to bring in the famous BTS group from Korea which would cost millions of dollars than trying to create jobs for young Malaysians. The anger towards being PH ministers have now become so fashionable that a phrase new has emerged to equate a stupidity as equivalent to the minister ( Bodoh Macam Menteri).
More Malaysians are perceiving that the new government is not helping the poor. This is because a lot of the programs initiated by the previous govt to help the B40 group or the poor people have not been continued by the new govt because of lack of money or not given the priority. One of the programs was the BRIM program. Instead of giving some money to the poor, the new govt has reduced the amount of BRIM. Money due to FELDA settlers was also not forthcoming from the new govt. The 100 ringgit for school children and two ringgit book grant that students obtained during the BN govt have been omitted or reduced. All these moves taken by the new govt were not well received by the people especially the Malays.
These are some of the things that make the PH government not very popular among Malaysians, particularly among the Malays. If the PH govt continues with these unpopular policies, I believe the ruling govt will not last for long. I'm not surprised that the label one-term govt will become a reality
More Malaysians are perceiving that the new government is not helping the poor. This is because a lot of the programs initiated by the previous govt to help the B40 group or the poor people have not been continued by the new govt because of lack of money or not given the priority. One of the programs was the BRIM program. Instead of giving some money to the poor, the new govt has reduced the amount of BRIM. Money due to FELDA settlers was also not forthcoming from the new govt. The 100 ringgit for school children and two ringgit book grant that students obtained during the BN govt have been omitted or reduced. All these moves taken by the new govt were not well received by the people especially the Malays.
These are some of the things that make the PH government not very popular among Malaysians, particularly among the Malays. If the PH govt continues with these unpopular policies, I believe the ruling govt will not last for long. I'm not surprised that the label one-term govt will become a reality
