THE trust deficit towards the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government will require it to maintain good communication with the people and prove its policies are inclusive, an analyst said.

The trust deficit among the public is understandable, KRA Group strategy director Amir Fareed Rahim said, given the way the government was formed.

“Given the political circumstances over the past few weeks, it is understandable that there is a wider trust deficit with the public,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The PN government must, therefore, expect greater scrutiny.

“Communicating well and transparently with the public is critical.”

The previous Pakatan Harapan government had promoted inclusive and progressive policies, but suffered from poor communication.

PH had failed to communicate clearly, especially to the Malay community, on issues such as the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Rome Statute.

Previous prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had admitted weakness in communicating the successes of PH’s policies as a reason behind its drop in popularity after being elected into federal power in May 2018.

For the PN government, with lawmakers and ministers from the old regime under Barisan Nasional, as well as the Islamist PAS, the government will have to prove its policies are inclusive to ensure that race and religious issues are under control.

One of the reasons cited for the formation of the new government through defections was to have a stronger Malay-Muslim government. 

But PN cannot afford to let these same issues get out of hand, Amir said.

He said appointments, such as Kuala Lumpur mufti Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri as religious affairs minister, and Umno “moderate” Halimah Sadique as national unity minister, were attempts to manage racial and religious issues.

“(These are) both controversial posts and (the appointments are) a step in the right direction in making sure the social temperature is better managed,” he said.

Another non-politician in the cabinet is banker Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who will oversee the finance portfolio. – March 10, 2020.