Wherefore art thou, Shadow Budget?

Talk is cheap , Critisise is easy ,

By Aizuddin Danian

I think perhaps my biggest, most severe criticism of PR is that they've played a largely deconstructionist role in federal affairs and done very little of the opposite. While it's fine and good to tell us how the Government is getting things wrong, it can get pretty hollow after a while without telling us how PR would do things differently as the Government.

Demolishing a house is just a matter of swinging a wrecking ball hard and fast enough. Building a house is a whole different ball-game altogether.

Well, today would be a perfect day to prove me wrong. PM Najib is set to release the budget for next year at 4pm today. Widely billed as the "election budget" it's certainly going to contain some goodies for the people, and also elaborate on what the Government will be doing in order to tackle critical issues such as the budget deficit and policies to bring in more foreign direct investment (FDI). The hardest thing i think think the budget will have to deal with is how the Government's coffers are at the thinnest levels we've seen in years, and still dig up enough money to ensure that we can push through the (expensive) reforms and ideas for the next few years.

Regardless of whom is in power, this is going to be the question that will need an answer.

PR hawks will argue that if PR was in power, this would never have happened in the first place. That's a false argument; that's like saying, if the gun was never invented, Aminulrasyid would never have been shot. The fact of the matter is that the nation's finances are in the state that they are -- what are you going to do, in exact details, about it?

Motherhood statements that we find in PR's Common Policy Framework will not cut the mustard in something as important as a national budget. Let's "remove corruption", or "eradicate cronyism" or "open tender" are just buzzwords that mean nothing when you're dealing with actual accounts with actual ringgit in them. They are fine as principals guiding policies, but they aren't policies in and of themselves. That's the problem.

PR fanboys will say, "BN has had 50 years in power", it's time to kick them out and give someone else a chance. Or, as bad as PR might be, they can't be as bad as BN has been. Whatever the fanboys will say, it doesn't remove the fact that unless PR tells us exactly what they would do when we give them power, we will have to logically deduce that they just don't know any better. To a discerning voter with a critical and rational mind (i know, we might be the minority but our vote counts just as much as the next guy), i can promise you that this is just not good enough.

The last time i brought up the issue of the shadow cabinet, i think many said that (a) PR doesn't have the resources to support a shadow cabinet (in fact, Tony Pua said this exact same thing) and (b) when the time comes closer to the next GE, then PR will tell us what they plan to do. Well, on (a), fine PR doesn't have enough resources to support a shadow cabinet, but surely it has enough resources to respond constructively in key issues such as the national budget -- if you don't have the resources to offer a shadow to all of the Government's policies, at least you should provide a shadow budget. Arguably, there is no bigger annual policy for the nation.

Read more at: http://www.aizuddindanian.com/voi/2010/10/wherefore-art-thou-shadow-budg.html

Mamakutty’s wealth prescription will bankrupt Malaysia, say analysts, politicians

By Boo Su-Lyn

October 01, 2010

Pua says the country cannot keep spending irresponsibly. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s prescription of growth and wealth to avoid race relations problems plaguing Malaysia will bankrupt the nation if followed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak, analysts and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders said.

They pointed out that the former premier’s own advice had failed during his administration which showed a trend of declining race relations amid ballooning government expenditure.

“Najib will be crazy to follow Dr Mahathir’s prescription for it’ll only bankrupt the country and worsen race relations, especially when the root causes of deteriorating race relations are not first addressed,” DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua told The Malaysian Insider.

“Race relations were getting worse by the day between 2005 and 2009 despite record government expenditure and budget, and a record-breaking number of projects,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said on Wednesday he had formulated the Bangsa Malaysia concept under his Vision 2020 plan based on the premise that thriving economic growth would ease race relations.

Pua, however, pointed out that after Dr Mahathir’s administration, the government budget had expanded from RM128 billion in 2004 to a hefty RM200 billion last year.

“Yet race relations had been increasingly worse in those past five years compared to the years before,” said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP, citing incidents of Umno leaders waving the keris, a traditional Malay dagger, during annual general meetings.

In 2005, then-Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein sparked an uproar when he wielded the keris at the party annual general meeting, which was criticised as a symbol of Malay supremacy.

Recently, there has been a spike in racial tension, such as the incident of two school principals accused of uttering racial slurs, the furore surrounding a Chinese MP’s visit to a surau, and a National Civics Bureau (BTN) senior official who allegedly referred to the Chinese and Indian communities as “si mata sepet” and “si botol” at a closed-door Puteri Umno function on Monday.

PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar echoed Pua’s views and noted that Najib’s administration now suffered a tight budget due to Dr Mahathir’s wastefulness.

“We are having financial management problems because of spending during Dr Mahathir’s time and Pak Lah’s time,” said Mahfuz, referring to former premier Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Malaysia is facing uncertain economic prospects with average GDP growth in the next five years projected to be just shy of the six per cent target Najib had set.

“Najib does not need to take Dr Mahathir’s advice because if he does, the country will lose a lot of money like what happened in Dr Mahathir’s time,” said Mahfuz.

Mahfuz says the Najib administration now suffered a tight budget due to Dr Mahathir’s wastefulness. — File pic

The Pokok Sena MP also pointed out that the infamous Kampung Medan racial clash had occurred during the administration of the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

“There were racial problems even during his time, like Kampung Medan,” said Mahfuz.

In 2001, a violent clash between the Malay and Indian communities in the Petaling Jaya suburb left six dead.

Pua dismissed the former Umno president’s spending strategy to ease racial tension as “unsustainable” and irresponsible.

“Looking forward, it’s unsustainable. The country does not have the money to keep spending the way Dr Mahathir wants us to spend,” he said, pointing out that the national debt had increased from 40 per cent of the GDP to 52 per cent today at RM363 billion.

“We cannot keep spending irresponsibly,” stressed Pua.

The lawmaker pointed out that the abuse of affirmative action policies was the underlying factor of race relations problems, but not a stagnant economy as claimed by Dr Mahathir.

“It is NEP (New Economic Policy) abuses — the ‘bastardisation’ as described by Nazir Razak — where they benefited a minority few,” said Pua, referring to CIMB group CEO Datuk Seri Nazir Razak who is Najib’s younger brother.

Recently, Nazir had lambasted the policy for being “bastardised” over the decades since its inception in 1971 for deviating from its goal of eradicating poverty.

Political analyst Dr Lim Teck Ghee agreed with Pua, saying that unfair wealth distribution caused by NEP-type policies was the reason behind simmering racial tension.

“Unequal income distribution has contributed to an increase in racial tension. It was during his period that growth in racial polarisation started to take place because of his policy,” said Lim, citing Dr Mahathir’s continuation of the NEP despite its targeted end date in 1990.

The Centre for Policy Initiatives director also slammed the former premier for squandering billions to feed his appetite for grand projects.

“The big projects undertaken during Mahathir’s time, when a lot of money was thrown around, resulted in bailouts between 1970 and 2007 costing the country more than RM100 billion,” said Lim.

“It is a recipe for disaster when projects are simply generated. It is economically unjustifiable, unsustainable and badly managed,” he added.

Political analyst Professor Madya Dr Samsul Adabi also cautioned against frittering away the country’s finances.

“We cannot simply spend,” said Samsul.

Like Dr Mahathir, he noted that wealth generation would help reduce racial tension in the country, but stressed that other factors also played a part.

“I agree because it can be one of the factors in reducing race relations problems, but there are other factors too,” said the analyst.

Bumi discount on luxury property is Pua's personal suggestion

Bumi discount on luxury property is Pua's personal suggestion

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Pakatan Rakyat leaders said thorough analysis of the suggestion by DAP’s Tony Pua to cut the Bumiputera discount for luxury homes and commercial property would have to be carried out before any decision is made.

Justice4otk says the Bumiputera discount for luxury homes should be done away with , not cut the Bumi discount as suggested by Tony Pua , and what analysis is there to be made before any decision is made ? PR should table this in Parliament .

Firstly do developers need to subsidise these rich Bumiputeras who can afford to buy luxury homes with a discount ? Discounts should be given only for certain types of homes for the poor and for the lower middle class .
Discounts and costs of discounts will eventually be passed to the other buyers who will have to bear for the drop in revenue due to these discounts .

Take for example the Kedah PAS government requiring that all developers in the state must set aside 50% of their project as Bumiputera units , meaning reserved for Bumis only and cannot be sold to others . There's no way these developers are going to make money with these sort requirements .

"At this point in time, it is his personal view and not formally suggested by DAP," PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar told Malaysia Chronicle.

"If later on, DAP recommends it, then according to Pakatan procedure we will discuss and see what other ways there are to prevent abuse of the discount system. It does not necessarily have to be abolished outright."

To prevent abuse

Tony had unwittingly thrown a cat amongst the pigeons when he suggested that Selangor reviewed its policy of giving out cheap land to subsidiaries controlled by the state.

He also called for the abolition of discounts, currently extended at 7 percent to Malay and Bumiputera purchasers, for commercial property above RM2 million. His rationale was that for many of these heavyweight units, there were middlemen who re-sold the property for a profit of 2 percent.

However, Tony stressed that for homes costing below RM500,000, the full discount of 7 percent should be maintained.

Needy still require a hand

Nevertheless, there are some initial misgiving even among Pakatan partners. Selangor PAS information chief Roslan Shahir is among those who have expressed concern that Tony’s suggestion might be too rushed.

"These are decisions with implications on the economy and our society. We want to cut out abuse but we also have to be sure that those who need help should still be able to get it. This is in line with the Pakatan stance and should not be politicized by the BN press," Mahfuz said.