Pakatan needs to heed warning signs

The Malaysian Insight The Malaysian Insight Updated 7 years ago · Published on 20 Dec 2018 4:00PM · 4 Comments

Rafizi Ramli can come across as full of himself, overly ambitious and the poster boy of a dysfunctional PKR. However, his message should be taken note of. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, December 20, 2018.

RAFIZI Ramli will not get a podium finish in any Mr Likeable contest.

He can come across as full of himself, overly ambitious and the poster boy of a dysfunctional PKR.

As such, his statements are pounced on and slammed by a good number of Malaysians, who believe that there is a sinister motive for everything that escapes his lips.

And so, when he noted that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s approval rating has slumped some 20% from just after the watershed May 9 elections, the blowback against him was strong.

Some questioned the survey, while others wondered if he was floating these findings to push the case for Anwar Ibrahim’s quicker elevation to the country’s top job.

Pity, because by going down that road, we could be guilty of dismissing a valuable message because we abhor the messenger.

The fact is that a large segment of Malaysians is still feeling the hurt from the high cost of living. A good number voted for Pakatan Harapan with the expectation that their everyday existence would improve once Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional were ushered out of Putrajaya.

Seven months on, oil palm smallholders are feeling the pain of low palm oil prices, as are rubber smallholders and farmers.

The B40, or bottom 40% of households, group in urban centres is also feeling the squeeze of stagnant wages and rising costs.

While it is wholly unreasonable to expect Dr Mahathir and friends to turn around a drifting economy and remove moribund structures in months, the perception on the ground is that the new government has not hit the ground running.

The most uncharitable view is that many cabinet members are out of their depth and do not seem to have a finger on the pulse of the country.

That was a similar comment when BN was in power, and to its utter shock, cost the pact the government.

The PH government looks like it is failing – and we need to focus on that.

Even Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh has the same feeling as Rafizi, notwithstanding the PKR man making fun of the DAP man’s sentiments about the price of eggs and his lunches with Nurul Izzah Anwar and Umno’s Khairy Jamaluddin.

His concern, apart from the economy, is that ally Bersatu is keen to accept defectors from Umno, the party that PH fought against in the May 9 polls.

“Because we are no different from Umno, if we can consider accepting the very people we voted out, all of whom, so far, are from Umno, into PH. It is like saying to the rakyat, ‘Thank you for your vote, but to hell with you. I have my own plans’,” he said today.

PH needs to pull up its socks. Winning the polls is not the prize. Running the country well and keeping the people’s support is the greater prize. – December 20, 2018.

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Comments

  • Yes it is a classic case of shooting the messanger. The public want lower prices but that starts at the source. Every report I have heard from smallholders blame the loss of income on not finding workers or having to pay them more. I thought the whole idea was that smallholders do the work themselves. Looks like they would earn more producing chicken feed.

    Posted 7 years ago by Malaysia New hope · Reply

  • We do not like this open quarrel inside PH. Go talk among yourself and whoever put it up in the open will surely get the blunt treatment from the voters.

    Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • The Pakatan Government should not bury their heads in the sand any longer. What Rafizi is saying is very true. The government need to act fast. Pump prime the economy instead of only cutting costs and saving money. Where are the government tenders and contracts? Start giving that out so there is enough money to circulate and add more jobs. Its been more than 6 months the ministries are still in the dark as to what need to be done. Of course the rakyat are angry and upset.

    Posted 7 years ago by Lily Cheong · Reply

  • Everyone in Malaysia is very much awared and concern about the situation in the country. The performance of PH is not yet up to the mark but they are barely up to third quarter of the year in their governance. Rakyat are quite forgiving in that sense as the previous regime has 61 years to do the damage , big time damage in the last 20 years and yet see nobody making issues out of it until the last two General Elections. What irks the rakyat is that we need no messenger like Rafizi who is in fact a very small minded person lacking the civility in approach, falsely enbolden by his association with Anwar thinking that gives him the freewill to talk down on others. He lacks the posh and refine quality of an experience politician respectful of others, a much needed traits for a foreboding political figure. His actions reflects an adult lack/devoid of guidance in schooling of behavioral ettiquete. He might have got thru his way in those days working in the Petronas thru his academic credentials intimidation but I can for sure guess that he is not someone that is like able or someone that can be entrusted to gel up an organization to be a cohesive in force. Being full of one self and a full comprehension of respect for humanity and humility brings out the best of one in sync with reality. Rafizi is not of those character only " a fast gun and no bullets ".

    Posted 7 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply