IN 1987, as Ronald Reagan, the 40th US president, was approaching the end of his second term, his second-in-command, George Herbert Walker Bush, had made it known publicly that he intended to take another step to reach the pinnacle of American politics.

However, as opposed to the charismatic and articulate Reagan, Bush lacked the eloquence and clarity to propose a visionary prospectus that could convince Americans where the country would be heading to.

It is to be said he was more of a reliable tradesman than a visionary statesman. A friend advised him to take a few days to figure out where he wanted to take the country before contesting for presidency.

The advice clearly annoyed him, of which Bush retorted derisively: “Oh, the vision thing.”

This was the exact moment how the term “vision thing” came up and Bush’s comment and particularly the term was picked up and used against him by his critics.

Clearly, the lack of the vision thing from Bush did not hinder his political ambition as he was able to easily defeat Democrat Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election.

However, that particular label haunted the president and some have suggested that it was instrumental in his defeat by the charismatic Bill Clinton, who had communicated his vision for America better in 1992.

Thus, the vision thing has become a metonymy and jargon in the politics of the western world.

It is commonly associated with a set of ideas and principles that was communicated with clarity which could easily shape public opinion and could perhaps even turn politics in your favour.

Therefore, the Madani economy framework, which was recently launched by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, could be a vision thing as it is arguably the first time – other than Budget 2023 – Malaysians get to hear how the economy would be managed under the Madani government.

Most importantly, this is a framework that is spearheaded by the prime minister and the economic vision that he wants to achieve for Malaysia.

While the Madani economy framework is merely the government teasing out its economic objectives, it is still short on detailing how it is to achieve these lofty targets.

For instance, no Malaysian would question the government’s intention to turn the country into one of the top 30 economies in the world, but achieving that means first admitting to the various structural and institutional economic weaknesses that have contributed to the recent downturn of the economy.

And this must also be accompanied by the various reforms promised such as legislating new laws and enacting new policies to help achieve that.

At the very least, a proper framework must give a sense that the government is making efforts to head towards that direction.

Also, it is in my opinion that the economic objectives listed are visionary enough and some may even argue the government is merely continuing policies of previous administrations.

For instance, it has no problem with continuing the much-derided cash aid policy, which was first spearheaded by the Najib Razak administration.

The e-tunai credit and special aid to civil servants and pensioners policy could not escape the fact that it could come straight out of the playbook of Najibnomics.

Furthermore, the close proximity of these goodies announcements and the state elections would have also invited the criticism that these are merely designed to buy off voters.

Having said all that, the prime minister has also announced that the economic plan will be more concise as each ministry will be launching initiatives to work towards achieving the objective the framework has set out.

Therefore, the jury remains out on Anwar’s economic plan and whether his economic vision thing could be deemed a success.

However, what is unmistakably clear is that this government would most likely live or die on its economic performance.

As the cost-of-living crisis still runs deep and the ringgit continues to slide, Malaysians are slowly running out of patience with the government and at least in the short run, it is important that it has a good economic story to tell or sell if it intends to stay in power.

With the exception of a miraculous economic recovery, infusing hope into the public that the situation might improve in the future may be the only political option that could stem the “green wave” at this political juncture.

And this is where the vision thing comes in and this is why the Madani economy framework was announced a month before the elections in Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Kelantan, Terrenganu and Negri Sembilan. – July 30, 2023.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.