Malaysians Institutionalised Response To Corruption Najib's Democracy is flawed and Stupid Stupid Stupid

Democracy is flawed. How else would you explain the perverted incentive system that plagues democracies? We call this plague corruption. the rise of big money is relatively new. But the perception of political leaders being affiliated to business remains morally blasphemous in society. While fundraising isn’t illegal in Malaysia, it highly discouraged in our social practices. Instead, when businesses approach political leaders, it has to be in the shady night.

MP for Selayang William Leong has urged Prime Minister Najib Razak to clear the air about the timing of the next General Elections, saying it was not only unethical to keep the opposition in the dark but also extremely harmful for the national economy as it kept investors sidelined and unwilling to take on deals until the uncertainty was over.

"He is behaving with a third-world mentality. BN just wants to make the already unlevel playing field more crooked for the opposition. But whether they realize it or not, it is also hurting the economy," William toldMalaysia Chronicle in an interview.

"In all other matured democracies for example in the US and UK, the exact date of the polls is given and announced in advance.  As BN is the sitting government who decides on the date of the polls, there is no reason why Najib cannot do so."

Third-world mentality

Indeed, the main topic in the nation is not the Kerdau or Merlimau by-elections despite blistering campaigns put up by both BN and Pakatan Rakyat, but the date of the coming 13th General Election.

Najib himself has chosen not to announce the date, claiming that it will be a "surprise" when asked by the media on this matter. He was slammed for his perceived lack of "forthrightness".

"It is an unfair move designed to give BN an unfair advantage as they already have so many institutions under their control, i.e. the media, the Election Commission, together with the unethical use of government machinery at their beck and call," said William, who is also the PKR treasurer-general.


"Pakatan is fighting in the dark, we are like a boxer being thrown into the boxing ring blindfolded and with wrists tied together.  Furthermore, being the opposition, we are not rich like BN. We cannot start our preparations early as this saps our resources.  If we start too early we will incur unnecessary expenses and when the battle begins we will have to source for funds again. So it is a tough balancing act."

William also rubbished Najib's constant call for Malaysia to  be a high-value matured society and high-income nation. He said the way BN intentionally chose to keep secret until the last moment when the 13th General Election would took place was the best example of the PM's hypocrisy.

What ilham, just be professional like Indonesia

Pakatan leaders have suggested that if Najib is unable to give an exact date, then he "should at least announce a rough time frame, for example in March 2011". In Indonesia, for example, the polling date is announced roughly 3 months ahead of time by the sitting government, they pointed out.

Speculation is also rife that the Sarawak state elections will be held within the next month or two as Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has claimed he has already got the 'ilham' or inspiration. The latest Taib can delay the polls is July 2011.

There is also a poser on whether GE13 will be held togther with the Sarawak polls or whether the two will be held separately.


"Why must wait for 'ilham'?  Why not be professional and give the dates for both the Sarawak polls and the general election so that everyone can get down to work.  This guessing game is turning out to be a great past-time for punters.  If (Berjaya's) Vincent Tan is  a bookmaker and taking odds, it will be a thriving business," said William.

Economic recovery being held back

For himself, William reckons the GE will be held simultaneously with the Sarawak polls before July. He warned Najib that to keep the country in suspense would boomerang and delay the economy from making any solid recovery.

"The GST  has been deferred, the ETP and the NEM have been put into the background whileTERAJU is being promoted. The KL MRT is also being rushed through like instant noodles. So, I would hazard a guess that the General Election would be before July this year together with the Sarawak polls," said William.


"As it is, investors are holding back.  The uncertainty is very bad for the economy, no doubt about it. But like the opposition, investors also have to wait. Perhaps we can ask Rosmah, maybe she knows the date."

He was referring to Rosmah Mansor, Najib's influential wife.

While money is fleeing Egypt and the Middle East, the fact that Russia’s economy grew by 4% in 2010 may make certain Western investors salivate. And when you hit Moscow, the opulence of the expense accounts and the sheer panache of the boutique hotels and shopping malls may make life back home feel a tad dog-eared. But before you invest, you must look behind gleaming facades. And it’s not a pretty sight.

Russia’s very own Wikileaks website, Ruleaks.net, revealed recently that, at the annual meeting between Prime Minister Putin and Finland’s President, Tarja Hallonen, Putin seemed surprisingly "frustrated and anxious." I would be too if I were running Russia.Troika Dialog, the largest private investment bank in the ex-Soviet region, has just published the report "Russia: 20 years of change." It reviews some of the striking facts about the cataclysmic change that has taken place there.A mere six years after the fall of communism, 70% of the state-run, planned economy was already in private hands. Today 55% of Russians are middle-class, according to the standard global definition. Annual consumption, which was under $1,000 per head in 1990, now stands at almost $6,000. In addition, as the report does not even bother to say because we all know it: Russia enjoys the world’s largest energy resources.So what’s the problem? It’s corruption, stupid. After Russia’s post-Communist decade of Wild West gangster capitalism, in 1998 Transparency International ranked the country as only the 76th most corrupt country out of 180--square in the middle between more respectable Western countries and those largely from the Third World, where anything goes.Today, after Vladimir Putin has claimed to have restored law and order, Russia has dropped to near the bottom of the honesty league, ranking 154th out of 180. How did that happen?In order to understand, we need to look back to the way Yeltsin "brought democracy to Russia," a mantra beloved of Western media. In fact, he wasn’t much bothered by the democracy bit. He brought markets to Russia.Advised by Jeffrey Sachs and his Harvard clan, his team decided that the highest priority was to privatize the old state-owned economy. In the mass privatization that followed, the old party elite and the factory bosses set about privatizing the institutions they managed as rapidly as possible. Within a few years, all the key industries--gas, oil, minerals--were in private hands. The results were catastrophic for the economy. The bosses siphoned off money and raw materials desperately needed for investment from their enterprises into co-ops, private banks and abroad, into offshore companies.readmore Malaysians Institutionalised Response To Corruption Najib's Democracy is flawed and Stupid Stupid Stupid