On Dr Mahathir Losing His Grip, DAP Conspiring, PPBM Infighting And Stuff

The following article is taken from Asia Times at this link here.

One year ago (May 9), Malaysians went to ballot box seeking change
Pakatan Harapan brought six-decades of BN to end

election of pluralistic coalition imbued Malaysia with new significance

Economic headwinds, widening polarization since complicated matters 

perceptions of govt’s performance after one year mixed

ratings for PH and PM suffered significant slide

Mahathir popularity halved to 46%
PH approval falling from 79% last May to 39% in March 2019

corruption, living costs, preservation of Malay rights top three concerns 
support for govt lower among rural, low-income communities 

Harapan blames former regime when questioned over slow pace of change

data points to declining investor confidence, bearish market sentiment

domestic front govt perpetually fighting fires 
failing to speak with single voice on racial and religious grounds

UMNO alliance with PAS, hardline Islamist party 
to turn Malaysia into Islamic state 

Harapan must defend their policies
Crumbling as they did on ICERD, Rome statute demoralizes their base

Harapan lacked “vision and purpose of where to take country." 
need “plan of action on national unity, education, NEP, economic uplift"
critical issues that will define nation going forward
don’t see such a vision yet

fight against corruption
increased integrity of judiciary
election commission that we finally have confidence in
open up public space for discussion, dissent

politicking behind the scenes

Mahathir succession issue

manipulations taking place
it’s not healthy

longer Mahathir stays harder for Anwar to stave off challenge 
Many have doubts whether Anwar is right person to lead 

not foregone conclusion Anwar will lead country

Racial politics, religious fervor, Malay nationalism prevail under Harapan

My comments :

1. Is Dr Mahathir losing his grip? Yes.  

Dr Mahathir must, must, must realise that the rapid growth of the Malaysian economy over the middle period of his premiership was largely (or only) due to our oil money. We took our oil money and built the country.  Often we had Petronas DIRECTLY fund our growth (for example when Petronas "bought over" MAS, Petronas "bailed out" Bank Bumi, Petronas "took over" Proton, Petronas directly funded the F1 circuit and the F1 races, Petronas directly funded Putrajaya RM12 billion??, the Petronas university, Putra Square, Putra Mosque, Putra Bridge, Putrajaya Lake and Wetlands, and dont forget the KLCC. 

On top of Petronas' contributions easily in excess of RM30 billion every year to the government Budget and the economy (other than dividends and corporate tax payments) dont forget the gas and fuel subsidies. 

In short we built the infrastructure of the country using our oil money. That is where a lot of the growth came from - we just "bought" our growth in the 80s and 90s with our oil money.  

And then the wastage. Huge amounts of that money was lost to corruption, cronyism and white elephant projects, ie projects that did not generate a sustainable return on investment within a reasonable time frame. That "reasonable period of time" is very important. 

The pyramids, the Sphinx etc are now Egypt's biggest tourism money spinners.  But they were built about 4000 years ago. The ROI (Return on Investment) has taken 4000 years to be realised. That is not good. That is a failed project. 

We did not create enough of sustainable technology industries. Sustainable here means technology industries that could compete and survive in the world markets - competing in the free markets.  We did not produce a Samsung, a Geely, an IKEA or anything close. 

Even from its early days, Proton was able to survive not just because of the protection and heavy taxation on imported cars but because Petronas pumped in money directly into Proton.   

Dr Mahathir has to realise that since Proton 1.0 did not work, Proton 2.0 also will likely not work.  The BN lost the elections partly because Proton 1.0 did not work. 

Why did the BN lose the elections in 2018? 

It happened after the collapse of oil prices in 2014/2015. 
Plus the really insane GST and Minimum Wages that killed the economy. 
It was a perfect storm of money troubles for the economy.

It is always, always the economy ok. 
Remember this. 
It is not god, religion, king, country, race or language that wins and loses elections. 
It is always the economy. 

Despite 30 years of Proton, there is not a single makcik who proudly said 'Anak saya sudah jadi supplier  Proton'.  Or 'anak saya sudah jadi automobile designer kelas antarabangsa'.  Tak ada pun. 

The BN (during Dr Mahathir's time as well) put too many restrictions in the economy that has stifled competition, stifled creativity and prevented new wealth creation. There is almost no new wealth creation in the Malaysian economh.  

And we do not have that excess oil money anymore which we used to simply "buy" our GDP  growth.

Dr Mahathir does not see that this is what has killed our economy. The present crop of politicians also does not understand anything about anything. 

Hence the peoples' lives are getting more difficult. 
It is all connected. 

What is the solution.
The solution is so simple.

Just deregulate and fully liberalise the economy. 
The people will benefit.
The Malays will benefit. Percayalah.
Just undo ALL the useless and brain dead rules, restrictions, regulations etc which contribute nothing positive to the economy.
If you want to know why the Malays are getting poorer these are the reasons.

Our economy cannot compete. 
Err . . our economy is a non competitive economy.
The Malay economy depends on non-competition to survive.
That is why it is now dead.

2. Is DAP sabotaging Dr Mahathir and/or PPBM?

This is what some PM's inner circles say. That the DAP keeps deathly quiet and leaves Dr Mahathir alone to face all the fuss over ICERD, Rome Statute, the spat with the sultan / king etc.  

Well, so did PKR. I dont hear brader Anwar coming to Dr Mahathir's defense over anything.

That is the nature of coalition politics.  In any coalition every coalition member is watching who is sitting above and below them in the coalition pecking order.  No coalition member wants to see any one fellow or party become too powerful. So if someone sitting above you is beginning to wobble, the smart thing to do is let him fall one or two rungs.  This is what DAP and bradere are doing to Dr Mahathir.  These are not acts of commission (which would be overt sabotage). These are acts of ommission or buat tak tahu saja. 

DAP makes no bones about the fact that they want Anwar to be the next PM? Do they really? Or is it just their way of tripping up Dr Mahathir every once in a while? 

3.  Yes the PH and the PPBM are too busy politicking than looking out for the peoples' best interests.  Talk is the split between Muhyiddin and others in PPBM is being orchestrated.  One faction does not want to see Muhyiddin remain as president of PPBM. Among other things Muhyiddin is now being painted as Anwar friendly. Also his closest buddy is Syed Mokhtar who stands to gain plenty if Muhyiddin becomes Number 1 (so the story goes). 

The other faction is also eyeing the same plum projects especially in Johor (the HSR, Iskandar etc) and the ECRL project.   They see the Muhyiddin / Syed Mokhtar combo as a threat. 


Its all about politicking and easy money. Dishing out the projects and contracts. 

What about the peoples' interests? What about the ordinary person on the street?

That is why the BN eventually got kicked out.
They lost sight of the people.

I believe the PH is getting an early start in the same direction.

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