Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| AG report won’t affect voter mindset Posted: 16 Oct 2012 01:48 PM PDT Political analysts say the report has little implication on BN's reputation and is not an indicator of the GE13 announcement. Alyaa Azhar, FMT Political analysts believe that the newly released Auditor-General's (AG) report will not play a big role in swinging votes to Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. Political analyst James Chin felt that the unnecessary spending and wastage in the AG report will do little to affect public opinion. "There is nothing new in the report. Both sides seemingly provide ammunition for the other, whereby they will pick up whatever bad things left behind for the other. "The AG report will not place a major dent on BN," Chin further added. Mohammad Agus Yusoff, a UKM political science professor, said the increased government revenue mentioned in the report is good news for the country. However, he said that revenue collected by the government is only a matter of numbers. "The people don't really bother about the numbers but what is more crucial to them is whether the numbers really benefit them in their daily lives. "If it does benefit the people then it is a successful achievement for the government. The government should use this revenue as the medium to balance and pay off the national debt instead of adding more debt to the country," he added. Agus said the AG report is not instrumental in affecting voting trends. "In order for the people to vote a certain party, they have to feel the impact. They have to feel that they are actually getting something that will benefit them," he said. Parties should be accountable Regarding the issue of negligence and poorly managed projects which were highlighted in the report, Chin said that responsible parties should be held accountable. He said however little will be done to address the issue. "It is usually the same thing each time. People will be very noisy about it, the typical commotion ensues but then later everyone forgets about it," he said. Agus agreed. "So far there has not been any firm action taken against those who are responsible; so far there has not been any prosecution. "Usually in the initial phase, there will be noises here and there but after the noise dies down, there has not been any substantive action taken against those involved: Any follow-up action has never been done," he said. The AG report highlighted increased government revenue of 16.19% and improved ratings for many ministries and government agencies. However, along with the positive reports, there were also several issues of inefficient projects and wastage of public funds. For example, the military housing projects awarded to sub-par contractors and road construction projects in Sarawak which do not meet deadlines and are wanting in safety standards.
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| Is March GE too late for Najib? Posted: 16 Oct 2012 01:32 PM PDT PM Najib has missed his best opportunity to hold the polls in March this year. By next March, he would have lost the element of surprise. Selena Tay, FMT All throughout this year, from January till now, it can be seen that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has got no clear strategy in regard to the general election. He will only call for the polls once he is sufficiently sure that he has gained the rakyat's support. Hence the second round of the RM500 cash aid to strengthen the people's support for him. This can only mean that after the first round of the cash aid, he is still not confident of the people's support and it is now extremely obvious that he is playing it by the ear. At first, most people were thinking that he was busy crafting a strategy and that he is the cautious type but his indecisiveness has shone through and revealed that he has no game plan after all. Now after announcing the second round of the RM500 cash aid and various goodies to be given out, he is again pondering the scenario of "before and after". He is now thinking whether to hold the polls after the goodies have been given out or before the goodies have been distributed. There are two schools of thought concerning this matter. This columnist has interviewed 11 people in Kuala Lumpur who are eligible for the cash aid and their response in regard to BR1M 2.0 can be summed up into two groups which will be categorised as Mr A and Mr B. Mr A said, "If the general election is held this year, it shows that the prime minister is insincere in regard to the goodies as he is just fishing for votes and so I will vote for Pakatan Rakyat. If the election is next year, I will vote for Najib as it means that he is sincere in giving because he gives the goodies to everyone although he is not sure whom we will vote." On the other hand, Mr B said, "If the polls are held this year, I will vote for Barisan Nasional as I am afraid I will not get the goodies next year if they were to know I voted for Pakatan. If the polls are held after I have obtained the cash aid, it is bye-bye to BN as I cannot be bothered with them anymore. This Budget 2013 is their zenith, their last hurrah, their final fling and therefore I will vote for Pakatan." To sum up:
The above results show that it is difficult to read people's mind as the results are evenly matched. Thus the results are inconclusive. There could be more people in the first group or more people in the second group whether the polls are held this year or next. Difficult to tell and it is this difficulty that Najib is facing now. However, the purpose of the survey above is to ascertain if the cash aid has any bearing on the voting patterns and is not done to predict election results. Still, there is yet a third group of people who will vote for Pakatan regardless of whether the polls are held this year or next. These people are of the opinion that they will get the cash aid whoever is the government of the day as the aid is from public funds – taxpayers' money and therefore the rakyat's money.
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