Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| ‘Self-correcting’ PAS is Umno’s worst nightmare Posted: 04 Jun 2011 05:08 PM PDT
In PAS, the voice of delegates and members weigh much more on the decisions taken by its party leaders, unlike in Umno. The victory of non-ulamaks in so many party positions must be seen as what they really are – a self-correction measure undertaken by PAS adherents to moderate its image, but never its content. Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz, Free Malaysia Today Umno talks about transformation but PAS is the party that concerts that into action. Umno does not even dare hold its party elections fearing that the party will be more divided. Umno hasn't got the stomach to get rid of its old blood. If PAS does not break-up having had its party elections, then the Umno leadership will have a tough time defending postponing its party elections. Even Umno people will go away convinced that holding back elections is really an excuse by the Umno leadership to self-perpetuate. Hence all the cock and bull story about disunity and such. Meanwhile the victory of the so called Erdogan faction in PAS has got Ibrahim Ali provoked. He reacted by saying the victors are opposition coalition chief Anwar Ibrahim's voice in PAS. Ibrahim's outbursts are likely to be dismissed as the ranting of a loony bin and the eternal busybody. By the way, this 'Erdogan' and non-Erdogan thing is a fiction created by those who are fearful of PAS. I don't see a change in the fundamental basis of PAS's struggle with the ascension of the less-ulamak elements in PAS. An attempt to divide I am sure the description of PAS as such is likely to be seen as an attempt to drive a wedge in the solidarity of PAS members. I am more inclined to believe that such a commitment to a struggle is alien to the present generation of Umno people who have a different political culture. Umno struggles about getting a share in the MRT project. Umno struggles to get a lion share of the UDA Pudu Jail redevelopment project. Umno fights for big businesses. Umno fights for increasing electricity tariffs so that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) make more profit and prices of goods and services using energy get passed on to consumers. For Ibrahim Ali, the eternal busybody and the pompous windbag, what happens inside PAS is of no relevance to him. His comments are unsolicited and carry no weight at all. Ibrahim, who borrowed the PAS shell in the last elections, will have no vehicle to go into elections this time. If Umno allows Ibrahim to hitch a ride, there is something very wrong in Umno. Don't underestimate PAS zeal Mohamad Sabu (better known as Mat Sabu), has won the party deputy presidency with 420 votes. He leads a group of leaders to counter conservatives who are said to prefer to link up with Umno. I hesitate to refer them as progressives. We can't underestimate their (PAS) zeal towards Islamic politics; they differ only in approach. The suggestion that PAS wants to link up with Umno has always been a non-issue. PAS operates differently from Umno. The voice of delegates and members weigh much more on the decisions taken by party leaders. And PAS has the influence of its Dewan Ulamak. That inference I think is a figment in the imagination of some people and probably a manifestation of hope for redemption from a more besieged party – Umno. It is Umno that has been harping on Malay unity which when translated actually means – please save us, we want to stay in power. No need for Umno PAS simply does not need Umno to reaffirm and remind them that they are Malay first. They are already Malays and can also justifiably claim, to be more Islamic in conduct and behavior. The victory of non-ulamaks in so many party positions must be seen as what they really are – a self-correction measure undertaken by PAS adherents to moderate its image, but never its content. What is the typical image of PAS? It's an Islamic party portraying the image of a spiritual and other worldly organization. It's a party filled with wide-eyed mullahs, patrolling the streets enforcing dress code, unshaved chins and mandatory use of skull caps, hijab and so forth. Umno on the other hand projects a temporal and secular image. So what has PAS now become? It has become a spiritual and less other-worldly. The later description conjuring the image of an uncompromising and harsh Taliban-esque organization bent on imposing harsh laws on the populace. Viable alternative Why would PAS need Umno? I think the victory of the moderates in PAS who will change the character of PAS from one party with Taliban-esque inclinations to a party of rational Islam, actually strikes fear in Umno. Now, PAS with the new leadership line up offers a very credible and viable political leadership to the Malays. The new line up also allays fears within the non-Muslim community who can see PAS now as a realistic political party. This strikes Umno in two areas. PAS can now offer an alternative to Malays and therefore will further erode Umno's already dwindling monopoly over Malay votes. Secondly, it can appeal to non-Muslims who are tired of Umno's bully tactics and its cowardly support of Perkasa's Malay agenda. The trio who won the vice-presidential posts are well known non-conservative Islamists. They are incumbent Salahuddin Ayub who took top spot with 753 votes. Kelantan senior councillor Husam Musa was second with 660 votes while another incumbent Mahfuz Omar kept his post with 616 votes. Both Salahuddin and Mahfuz were incumbents.
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| Posted: 04 Jun 2011 02:04 PM PDT While ordinary Malaysians tighten their belts to bear the burden of price hikes as a result of reduction in subsidies, the Government must also do its part. By Wong Chun Wai, The Star WHEN Barack Obama was asked what action he was going to take after gas pump prices had shot up continuously for 35 days, the US president openly declared he had no immediate solution. It was a simple yet honest answer despite the impact it would have on his popularity ratings. Governments all over the world are grappling with the hike in oil prices. It hasn't helped that food production has been hit since last year after weather changes caused havoc in several major food-producing countries, including China, India and Australia. In the United States and Europe, the price of fuel for cars changes almost every day as it is not subsidised. This is something most Malaysians are unfamiliar with as we are, and have been, living on subsidies for almost every essential item, even sugar which is unheard of elsewhere. The government's bill for subsidising petrol, diesel and gas has risen from RM8bil to RM18bil a year. Yes, it's a staggering figure and certainly we can expect the numbers to keep increasing unless there is a drop in crude oil prices. The government can take the easy way out by keeping the prices of petrol down to remain popular, especially with a general election looming. But that would be bad governance. If Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can reduce the price of petrol as he claims, I am sure Obama would be quite keen to hear from him. The Opposition Leader must have a magic wand. He may be able to do it but the long-term effects would be disastrous and could well bleed the nation. To put it bluntly, it could bankrupt Malaysia. There is a cost to the subsidy – the government should be channelling the subsidy to the health, education and housing sectors. There are also many infrastructure projects that have already been announced and we wonder how many of these would be affected, even put on hold, if the subsidy bill continues to spiral upwards. The government could save at least RM103bil over the next five years if it were to slash its subsidy bill now. This, however, can only be done gradually with enough notice served on Malaysians to explain that the government just cannot continue to bear this burden. The government has little choice but to explain to the people the rationale behind the subsidy cuts. It's not an easy task as ordinary Malaysians have bills to pay. And against the backdrop of increasing costs of production, most employers would be hard-pressed to increase the salaries of their workers. At the same time, we can expect industries to pass their cost to consumers even though the increase in electricity rates is only an average of 7.12%. The Opposition has been playing the populist card, blaming the government for every price hike and promising to reduce the price of oil, which any rational person would know is not achievable. Surely, every serving government would want to keep prices down to get itself re-elected. Economists want the government to take a more daring approach to push ahead the subsidy rationalisation exercise. But they are obviously not counting the political costs if this is not done gradually. Their fear is that if Malaysia continues to bear the high subsidy bill, it would impact on the country's sovereign ratings as the budget deficit would stand to widen. In simple language, the country's debt cannot be allowed to increase if its credit status is to be respected. The bottom line is: provision of subsidies is not a sustainable practice. It has to be removed eventually but at the same time, the government is well aware that any decision should not affect the consumers' standard of living. Even some government MPs have been cautious about any increase in petrol or food items. But take the sugar subsidy as an example. When the prices of coarse and fine sugar increased by 20 sen to RM2.30 per kilo, it reduced government subsidy by RM116.6mil from RM400mil per year. The latest increase is the first this year, after last year's hikes of 20 sen in January, 25 sen in July and 20 sen in December. It is incredulous that we would fork out so much for sugar while we ask for less of it with our teh tarik. Yet some of us will get bitter when there is a cut in subsidy for sugar. Look at the statistics: there are 1.4 million adults suffering from diabetes as at 2006, according to a national health and morbidity survey. We can assume that the number has gone up since then, at the rate we consume sugar-laden soft drinks. Now, according to estimates by the Health Ministry's disease control division, health promotion, management and treatment of diabetic patients take up about 15% to 17% of the ministry's total budget of RM13.7bil in 2009. That can't be sweet news to Malaysians, especially taxpayers. Moreover, that figure does not include diabetics who seek treatment in private hospitals. But at the same time, we, too, want the government to cut down on excessiveness and wastage and review existing projects that are perceived to bring little economic returns. We can save but the government must also play its part. It's a shared responsibility. Malaysians, like everyone else on this planet, cannot live like they used to. The days of cheap food will be a thing of the past. We cannot depend on fossil fuel forever. We cannot leave the fan, air-conditioner, lights and television on for no reason and, certainly, our children will pay a heavy price if we waste water as we are doing now. This seems to be the only immediate answer if we want to sustain the planet. |
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