Flood relief, poll freebies will widen fiscal deficit
Consumer inflation remains high. Don’t blame just the weather and global conditions, say the analysts. Malaysia’s problems arise mainly from policy paralysis, misdirected subsidies and a big fiscal deficit (the excess of government spending over revenue).
the apparent lack of leadership in the face of the worst floods in living memory. He has raised questions on Muhyiddin Yassin’s statements, saying it appeared that the Deputy Prime Minister was trying to give the impression that he’s not the man for the job..He was quoted as saying that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak deserved a well-earned rest overseas after having worked hard throughout the year,”
Najib was not the only one “missing in action”; other leaders were also absent. “Meanwhile, the opposition is going to town on the issue and the Communications Unit at the Prime Minister’s Department is sleeping on the job,” he said.
“There’s a picture of former Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz going around on a boat, visiting the flood victims. How many people realize that this is in fact an old picture?”
He questioned the whereabouts of Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who last made a name for himself by the manner in which he handled the media and the families of those caught up in the MH370 and MH17 tragedies. “Where is he?” asked Zainuddin. “He should be in the country given the flood situation although he’s entitled to have his holidays at this time of the year.
“It was not too long ago that a national daily pushed the line that Hishammuddin was Prime Ministerial material.”
He said he couldn’t understand why the Meteorological Department, knowing the gravity of the weather situation, did not alert the Prime Minister.
In a parting shot, he belaboured the cynical point that the people have long known that the elite insist on enjoying their Christmas and New Year holidays every year no matter what happens, visiting their children and family members living in the United Kingdom, among other places.
Seems that round of golf with Obama in Hawaii has some considerable political downside for Malaysia's PM Najib -According to the Malaysian Insider, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters: "We must be fair. The prime minister also has his time for a break as he has been working so hard. He is also a human being. I told him not to worry and to have trust in me, we will manage the issue in whatever way we can."
Seems that round of golf with Obama in Hawaii has some considerable political downside for Malaysia's PM Najib -According to the Malaysian Insider, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters: "We must be fair. The prime minister also has his time for a break as he has been working so hard. He is also a human being. I told him not to worry and to have trust in me, we will manage the issue in whatever way we can."
He added that floods were an annual occurrence in Malaysia but that they were much more challenging this year.
PM Najib got the message and will return home after golfing with President Barack H. Obama in Hawaii
A world leader is under fire for playing golf in Hawaii at a time of national crisis. Only this time, it's not President Obama.
Rather, it's Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who hit the links Wednesday with Obama at a course on a Marine base in Kaneohe Bay. Najib's round surprised some of his countrymen, who are calling on him to return home to deal with massive flooding that has displaced tens of thousands.
Najib's Facebook page was reportedly inundated with angry comments, and Malaysians also took to Twitter to complain that his vacation trip was inappropriate. Local news organizations picked up on the unhappiness.
"Come home, help flood victims instead of golfing in Hawaii, Najib told," the Malaysian Insider reported.
"STOP PLAYING GOLF, NAJIB!" the Malaysia Chronicle wrote.
Najib was in Hawaii on a vacation at the same time as Obama, and the White House said the president invited the prime minister for a round. Obama, who has been criticized for playing golf, including after the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley by the Islamic State militant group, has played several rounds since arriving on the island late Friday.
UK PM cancelled his visit to Middle East due to flooding in his country back in February 2014.
Can't believe our nation's leader Najib is having fun playing golf with Obama at Hawaii while we are facing the largest flood in our country
The frustration over Najib's round was apparent on Twitter.
The Washington Post: What Game is this Pro-Democratic Party tabloid (since the days of Philip Leslie “Phil” Graham and Katherine Graham’s friendship with John F. Kennedy) playing? Najib is a victim of US domestic politics
Near the end of his sixth year in power, what kind of a president has Barack Obama been? Is he a hesitant Hamlet, who doesn’t have the chutzpah to lead like dashing US presidents of the past? Or, is he the right leader for troubled times?
The pundits’ opinion on Obama, in the US and abroad, has swung like a pendulum in recent weeks. It was almost all negative after the Republican Party won control of both houses of the US Congress in November and many Democrats seemed to blame Obama’s style of leadership for their losses. Then, in the past couple of weeks or so, several domestic as well as international indicators have triggered a reassessment.
The hard right through its media voices like Fox News, talk radio and conservative magazines has kept up its tirade against this president, whom a large proportion of Republicans believe to be incompetent as well as un-American. But many moderates and liberals now think the man has been an adroit leader in difficult circumstances.
Compared to six years ago the US economy today is in a steady, even impressive, run of growth, the unemployment rate is down to 5.8% from over 10% six years ago, the budget deficit is declining as a proportion of GDP, the stock market booms and most Americans can now have affordable healthcare.
Internationally, Obama inherited a continuing war against global terrorism plus two conventional wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The latter was a disaster that should never have occurred while the former is a mess that no one can predict will sort itself out any time soon. Plus, he was expected to lead America in a world that is no longer unipolar, as some pundits had assumed it to be after the Cold War. Other centres of global influence have emerged, with an assertive China leading the trend.
The global situation remains chaotic. But Obama’s cautious style of deliberation and intense behind-the-scenes conversation has not made it any worse. Today, America is less the “indispensible nation” of Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright but it remains by far the most influential nation in global affairs. Its style of leadership counts.
The Middle East crisis continues, in Syria, in Iraq, in Egypt, in Libya and in Israel-Palestine. But Obama has started a series of negotiations with Iran that quite possibly will ease some of the tension in the region well into the future. He has struck an important climate deal with China, with which he appears to have reached a quiet understanding to pursue a non-confrontational management of world affairs. And, to the surprise of everybody, he has reversed America’s half-century-long Cold War approach towards Cuba to normalise relations between two hostile neighbours.
Also, to the surprise of many seasoned observers of foreign affairs in this town, Obama has accepted Narendra Modi’s invitation to be chief guest at the January 26 Republic Day parade in New Delhi, the first time for a US president. His just sworn-in ambassador to India is, again for the first time ever, an Indian-American, Richard Verma, who almost immediately after landing will have to manage a visit by his boss, secretary of state John Kerry, and one by the US president later in the month. Is there more than meets the eye in all this? Apart from suggesting that the US sees the India relationship as highly important, is a message going out to Islamabad that Washington has a new partner in South Asia and the winding down of involvement in Afghanistan doesn’t mean total US disengagement from the region? Perhaps.
In any case, Obama seems to be a man for our season. But he has his hands full when it comes to helping lead world affairs. The Cold War ended 25 years ago with the collapse of the Berlin Wall signifying an apparent victory of liberal democracy over communism. In fact, liberal democracy has not won. Not only do nations that are neither liberal nor democratic continue to flourish, often to the admiration of other aspiring peoples, a disruptive global struggle continues to rage between forces of modern liberal progress and those of jingoistic and religious ideologies that hark back to reviving ancient cultural glories based on myths and revisionist history.
Many observers and PR leaders are delighted to see that Umno is now in turmoil where both leaders and supporters are blaming each other for everything that have gone wrong in Umno and in the country. It seems that this is the beginning of the sinking of the ‘pirate ship’.
Najib has been attacked not only by the opposition but from almost every front and on everything that he has said and done. The most damaging attacked is obviously from within Umno itself, led by Tun Dr. Mahathir.
Dr. Mahathir group loosely consists of Daim, Ibrahim Ali, A. Kadir Jasin, bloggers, NGOs and recently the G-25 and many other individuals that is vocal against Najib is blaming the Umno president for everything bad in Umno, in the Malay community and in the country.
Muhyiddin Yasin is also blaming Najib for not doing enough and not doing the right thing. He proposed to make the efforts to help improve the Malay and Bumiputra community as a national agenda and not only as Umno’s. This will institutionalize the agenda.
In defending Najib, the few voices of support that he has are without substance and more like apple polishing.
Some observers and politicians have mentioned that the attacks from Mahathir are like the same moves he made when he wanted to remove Tun Abdullah Badawi from power. Thus it seems that Najib will eventually be replaced soon.
On the other hand Najib has not say and done anything to defend himself and counter the attacks, at least in the open. There is a rumour that Najib has met Dr. Mahathir on the 1MDB issue, that’s it. So has Najib accepted the fate that his days are numbered and no matter what he does, it won’t make any difference?
Indeed, that is what his enemies and the opposition are hoping for; the end of Najib, and of course hopefully the end of Umno too. But don’t even think of celebrating.
Najib knows that the attacks are just hot air. Dr. Mahathir cannot do anything else except complain. He can go on nagging until he turns senile. Najib is in full control now. Najib can also destroy the opposition in a zap by jailing Anwar. More so since the Pakatan Rakyat is in a self-destruct mode!
But what is actually going on with Umno now?
Dr M
See, Umno has many ways and instruments at its disposal to know, evaluate and understand subtle things that affect the party, mood of the people, status of the opposition and the country. But being human their leaders have the flaws in not heeding to all the signs, information, feedbacks and writings on the walls to take the necessary actions to ensure that Umno continue to dominate everything in the country.
Umno leaders especially those in the know realized that without any improvement, Umno days are numbered; good things never last forever anyway. Yet they are all very stubborn and just hope that the day will never come.
Despite all the hype in the successes of Umno in developing the country and especially the Malays, Malaysia with all the resources is far behind Singapore who has no natural resources at all; neither a drop of oil nor its own water source! There is no need to compare Malaysia with Hong Kong, Korea and Japan because it would be more frustrating for us to contemplate how backward we are!
What have now come around haunting Umno are its own foolish, greedy, corrupt, extravagant and bad deeds. The non-Umno Malays in general know what has been going on for the past 60 years and they have showed their resentment during the general elections. Umno has been winning only through cheating and not through the ballot boxes.
When it is too late for anyone in Umno to do anything to rectify all its mistakes, what Umno leaders and its supporters are able to do is to blame each other. Yes instead of infighting, Umno leaders have started the blame game. Nobody in Umno, especially its leaders wants to take the blame.
Thus the only thing Mahathir could do; just put all the blame on Najib. Mahathir cannot remove Najib from power even if he could, simply because not only there is no one in Umno that can fit Najib’s shoes, there is no new blood to take over the leadership. This is Mahathir’s fault too and yet he blames Najib!
They have all forgotten that Mahathir is the one who ruled for 22 years and Najib is only into his 6th year. So who would have done more wrong if not Mahathir!
What about Muhyiddin? Can he replace Najib and perform better? Muhyiddin is indebted with Najib for where he is now, so how on earth could challenge his boss? Whatever Muhyiddin is doing is just to being seen as someone relevant. And if Muhyiddin thinks that people in Umno and especially Mahathir is backing him to replace Najib, he must be dreaming. Muhyiddin does not have what it takes to be the president.
Ibrahim Ali
Above all, there is one thing every Umno leader has in common; it is the prospect of losing everything and there is so much at stake to let the pirate ship to sink. They won’t dare to remove Najib from power because if he is removed, Umno will have a leadership crisis. Umno simply can’t afford to rock the pirate ship now; it is bad timing when the GE-14 is about 36 months away and despite the apparent split in Pakatan Rakyat, the people are still supporting the opposition.
See, Najib is so confident on his position that he has been golfing with Obama in Hawaii despite the nation being inundated by floods.Therefore Najib will remain as Umno president as long as it need be; until it is clear that there is someone outstanding that can replace him. Unfortunately for Umno there is none thus far. The existing Umno leaders including the younger ones have no leadership qualities at all; none.
No comments:
Post a Comment