PAKATAN Harapan’s government will turn 100 days old next week, and experts have already identified its strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities (SWOT).

Singaporean daily Straits Times reported pollster Merdeka Centre Ibrahim Suffian as saying most Malaysians are happy with the new government for now.

“Our surveys show that most Malaysians are happy with the commitment and will the new government is showing towards institutional reform and fixing the economy,” he was quoted as saying.

The full survey will be released next week.

Merdeka Centre said that ethnic Malays, which make up the largest portion of the electorate, make up 50% of the government’s support.

Putrajaya has also won brownie points with its stand on investigating financial scandals left behind by former prime minister Najib Razak.

However, ST also said it may lead to an economic meltdown, as the investigations may affect investors’ confidence.

“While the government has hit the brakes on the downward slide in the Malaysian economy, the discovery of new financial shenanigans… could pile further pressure on the government’s already shaky finances and push the country into an economic crisis.”

The newspaper also said that the future of Malaysian politics past current Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s era remains in the dark, with Anwar Ibrahim waiting to take over.

“The country’s politics also remain unsettled, with questions about the leadership succession between the 92-year-old Dr Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister-in-waiting.”

Among the SWOT identified by Merdeka Centre for PH’s 100 days in government include:

STRENGTHS

• The growing acceptance of the new government by ordinary Malaysians is a major source of strength. Opinion surveys put Dr Mahathir’s public acceptance as prime minister at 79% in mid-July. Ibrahim expects approval to inch higher when the final numbers are in for its mid-August review later this week. It is a popularity rating no Malaysian prime minister has secured in more than a decade.
• Taking over from a government widely perceived to be corrupt has also brought benefits for the new administration. Most Malaysians accept giving some slack to inexperienced members of the new cabinet for any missteps, because they are generally viewed as clean politicians.
• Malaysia’s administrative system remains largely intact, despite the rampant corruption under the previous administration. The country’s economy has stabilised, together with the currency, and the new government is implementing policies to restore foreign investor confidence in financial markets and the manufacturing sector.

WEAKNESSES

• One of the chief concerns shared by Dr Mahathir and his trusted economic troubleshooter, Daim Zainuddin, according to government officials and financial executives close to them, is the threat posed by the country’s powerful civil service. The culling of top civil servants and politically appointed personalities tied to the previous administration in recent months have helped instil some measure of discipline in the administrative service.
• Senior government officials and PH politicians however note that rogue elements remain in influential positions, and there is growing difficulty in dealing with members of the rank and file who are finding it hard to give up the old ways of rent-seeking and extracting favours and kickbacks from businesses.
• The inability to break away from an opposition mindset is starting to be a problem for the new government. Many politicians are still bent on a witch-hunt of the previous administration, often making disclosures and statements that have served mainly to undermine financial markets.
• The huge debt burden inherited from the previous government could be a source of tension between the short-term requirement to lift the economy and the longer-term need for fiscal consolidation. The large national debt also limits the ability to manoeuvre during an economic downturn.

OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS

• There is an opportunity to make good use of the hard-won political capital to push ahead with tough institutional reforms and transparency in a government that has long been a source of corruption. There are also opportunities to streamline the country’s bloated and inefficient civil service and cut back the government’s involvement in business, which has crowded out the private sector and discouraged foreign investment over the last decade.
• A threat lies in Malaysia remaining a highly polarised and fragmented society along secular, religious, and ethnic lines. These fault lines can very quickly become sources of conflict in times of economic hardship. – August 12, 2018.