NILE BOWIE: GE13 - WHAT'S AT STAKE FOR MALAYSIA?

Nile Bowie’s take on our forthcoming GE 13…

GE13: What’s at stake for Malaysia?
By Nile Bowie, Nile Bowie Blog, 24 March 2013.

Malaysians of all walks of life will soon go to the polls to take part in an election, the outcome of which will have long-ranging implications that could see significant changes in how the country is governed. The incumbent leader, Najib Razak, is campaigning for his first mandate at the polls, and his government has legitimized itself through its growth-promoting management of the economy and a series of populist measures aimed at lifting the burden on the poor. The opposition coalition, which has vowed to eliminate authoritarianism and elite graft, has released a manifesto that some have lauded, while others have been more sceptical of by questioning how the coalition plans on executing many of their programs. The dissolution of parliament is just around the corner and it cannot be denied that many are dissatisfied with the status quo, and there is a large demographic of young voters who want to challenge the ruling coalition’s infallibility at the polls.

The surfacing of contentious issues close to election-time has created a notable climate of disillusion in Malaysia’s critical blogosphere. Among those are concerns that immigrants in Sabah were given citizenship and voting rights during Dr. Mahathir’s era on the condition that they vote in favour of the ruling party. The recent exposé documenting members of Taib Mahmud’s family openly talking of skirting Malaysian tax law has gone viral, putting enormous pressure on Najib’s administration to take action. Many, especially among the young, feel animosity toward the government for the way in which the Bersih demonstrations were dispersed. These factors do not bode well for the ruling party, but despite the shortcomings that should rightfully be addressed, it should be acknowledged that from a developmental point of view, Malaysia has historically been among the top-tier of well-governed countries in the region and the ruling coalition has been very successful in numerous areas.

The Naijb government has undeniably had success in delivering high-economic growth to Malaysia. This should not be easily shrugged off by the frustrated voter, especially considering the lacklustre state of the global economy. In recent times, economic turmoil has ensued throughout the European Union as a result of negligent mismanagement and the primacy of finance capital. Cyprus has been in uproar over a bill that would make citizens have their personal savings taxed when their government and affiliated bondholders took careless risks. In the United States, the Obama administration has found itself so indebted, that it was forced to pass the Sequester bill, cutting $85 million from the federal budget, primarily targeting social programs that the downtrodden and the elderly depend on. In both cases, the most vulnerable members of society have been forced to pick up the tab for governments and investors that have recklessly managed their economies and instituted punishing belt-tightening austerity measures.

In stark contrast, the Najib administration has extended its hand to the poor - be it single mothers, taxi drivers, low-earning families or young entrepreneurs - by introducing a wide range of credit schemes, vouchers, and subsidies that have helped the pace of development. Malaysians often overlook the fact that Malaysia has one of the lowest inflation rates in the world, the Najib government has made it a priority to implement people-friendly policies and programs of social uplift, exactly what the people of Greece, Spain, and Portugal have been asking their bureaucratic leaders for. Najib’s 1Malaysia program, the central backbone of his populist policies, has been criticized for lacking substance. One should note that the current leadership is trying to deemphasize ethnicity, and in a country where complaints of race-politics are commonplace, this should be rightfully seen as a welcoming development. There is no doubt that the current leadership is well aware of the criticisms and the short-comings, hence the emphasis being placed on economic and governmental transformation programs that have the potential to deliver increased stability and bring about an economic climate where more bold reforms are possible in the near-future…

Read the rest of the article at Nile Bowie Blog.