Clear vision a must for the Cabinet
The government should have a firm idea of what must be done next. The Pakatan election manifesto is the main playbook and the leaders need to stick to it.
THE Pakatan Harapan government, turning a year old, should very well carry on with what it is doing.
However, there are still many hurdles to overcome before it finally gets the thumbs up from the voters who gave them the mandate to rule in 2018.
Although think tanks and watchdogs generally say Pakatan has performed well despite the major problems left behind by the previous government – such as the mountain of the national debt – voters are impatient for results.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had stated at the beginning of his tenure as the seventh Prime Minister that he was taking over a government saddled with RM1 trillion debt.
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) chief executive officer Ali Salman said the think tank, after its assessment of the government over the past one year, had decided to give Pakatan a pat on the back for “having done quite well in keeping to its promises”.
“It is clear that the popularity which the Pakatan government enjoyed at the start of its tenure has waned, but this also has to do with the nature of voters’ behaviour, which can be irrational at times.
“Sometimes, a silly statement by a minister can devalue the otherwise hard work done by the government, and negative perception can quickly be developed about the overall government performance.
“This is because, at any given point, voters cannot have the information about the overall performance of the government and their perceptions can be influenced by transient developments,” said Ali.
According to the survey conducted by Ideas on the work done by Pakatan since it took over Putrajaya, issues about the cost of living have been addressed to a certain extent.
“The Pakatan government has worked on several initiatives addressing the cost of living as per their promises.
“Some examples include abolishing the Goods and Services Tax, setting up of affordable housing council, introducing monthly public transportation passes as well as focusing the fight on non-communicable diseases,” he said.
Ali added that one must give credit to Pakatan for being on track with the 18 sub-promises of its general election manifesto.
“The Pakatan government is on track for this one, including royalty distribution to oil and gasproducing states such as Kelantan and Terengganu and reforming the PR1MA affordable housing scheme.
“They also kept their word to review highway toll concessions, provide cheaper Internet broadband packages, set up targeted petrol subsidies and introduce a health insurance scheme (MySalam) and the B40 Healthcare Scheme (PeKa B40),” said Ali.
However, Pakatan must beware
of public perception. There are vocal criticisms that it has failed to fulfil all the promises made.
Ali said one reason folks have the impression that Pakatan is not fully getting down to work is because of the contrasting statements made by ministers, making them speculate that the Cabinet was not united.
“The Cabinet should speak with one voice, with a clear vision of the next steps. They have the manifesto as their main playbook and should stick to it.
“However, where fiscal compulsions obstruct smooth implementation of promises, they should openly communicate to the rakyat about these challenges and take them into confidence,” said Ali.
Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian said only 39% of Malaysian voters gave the Pakatan government a positive rating in a nationwide survey carried out in March.
This is a marked decline compared to the 71% rating in August 2018 – just three months after they took over Putrajaya.
The March poll also indicated that only 46% were satisfied with the performance of Dr Mahathir as the Prime Minister, while only 6% said the country was strongly in the right direction. Another 12% were sure the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Another 34% of the voters felt that the country is headed “somewhat in the wrong direction” and only 26% stated that the country is headed “somewhat in the right direction”.
“The decline in ratings is likely to be attributable to three factors, for example: the condition of the economy as it is perceived by ordinary consumers, the perceived performance of the administration and concerns over Malay rights and privileges, as well as fair treatment of the other races in Malaysia,” he said.
The top voter concern, said Ibrahim, remains the economy.
“Confidence in Pakatan to run the economy is declining. Negative sentiments are increasing as dissatisfaction with the Sales and Services Tax (SST) grows, with many saying SST did not help to bring down the prices of goods,” he said.
That said, the Merdeka Center survey added that despite the declining ratings, there is a high percentage of voters willing to wait and see if Pakatan can indeed do the work given time.
The same survey also found that an overwhelming majority of voters (67%) agreed that the administration should be given more time to fulfil its election promises.
This figure also included a majority – to be exact, 52% of Malay voters who have been more critical of the new administration.
Ibrahim said Pakatan could move forward in the coming four years.
“It is normal for many countries that reforms initially crimp some growth but in the end, by arresting leakages and addressing inefficiency, more resources will be freed up and can be directed towards growing the economy and providing more social spending.
“It should tackle the efforts to improve the effectiveness of government spending into productive sectors, lower the cost of doing business and provide a better social safety net for the B40 and more growth opportunities for the M40 as well,” he said.
It is clear that the popularity which the Pakatan government enjoyed at the start of its tenure has waned, but this also has to do with the nature of voters’ behaviour. Ali Salman
For more stories and interactive graphics on seat distribution in Parliament, go to The Star’s special website on Pakatan Harapan’s first year anniversary in power at https://www.thestar.com.my/topics/2019/05/09/recalibratingmalaysia/