Corrected on 15 July 2009 at 12.30am
GOOD news for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. His approval ratings jumped from 45% in mid-May to 65% by 1 June, according to a poll by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research released ahead of his first 100 days in office on 11 July.
The increase follows a slew of changes, and promises of more to come. However, change can be real or perceived. Change can be a result of a commitment to a larger good or as a reaction for the sake of political survival.
What type of change has Najib implemented so far?
New economic model
Najib’s announcement on 30 June 2009 about the scrapping of the Foreign Investments Committee (FIC) requirements, and the removal of the 30% bumiputra quota on companies seeking listing, will surely make it into press reviews about his first 100 days.
While news about the 30% quota removal was the attention-grabber, it is the undoing of FIC rules that is far more significant, notes Monash University Malaysia political scientist Prof James Chin.
The 30% quota for equity participation had been a non-issue for more than a year already due to a depressed economic market. In April, Najib had also announced the liberalisation of 27 service sub-sectors which would be freed from the same bumiputra quota.
“Taking away the quota was just a formality. For the past year, opening share prices had dropped below the initial public offering (IPO) price. Which bumiputra in their right mind would want to buy shares under quota when they could buy cheaper on the open market?
“Whereas, making the FIC redundant is real change. It was putting off a lot of foreign investors. Not only was the FIC in charge of approving bumiputra shareholding in foreign ventures, but they also nominated the shareholders. It opened the way to cronyism,” Chin tells The Nut Graph.
Najib’s new economic model is an attempt to minimise cronyism (stock pic)
However, Chin says this move doesn’t amount to structural liberalisation of the economy. The FIC’s role has been replaced by Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas). The new investment vehicle merely changes the way bumiputra participation in shareholding is facilitated, and ensures that those shares remain in hand.
Ekuinas is meant to boost bumiputra equity which still falls short of the 30% target under the New Economic Policy (NEP). “There is no ‘loss’ to bumiputras as such, because whatever investments now coming in, instead of the FIC directing which bumi shareholders should be given stakes, Ekuinas will just buy them,” Chin notes.
Thus, what Najib’s new economic model amounts to is an attempt to minimise cronyism. It should keep the Malay Malaysian ground happy that their constitutional privileges are protected, while showing the rest of the country that he is addressing abuse of the NEP.
Education
With the reversal of the English Teaching of Mathematics and Science (ETeMS), Najib can silence the opposition and detractors of the policy. Overall, the policy’s benefits were found to be nominal, although there are still those who argue that it should be continued.
Beyond this, it’s more important for Najib’s administration to overhaul the deteriorating education system.
A more politically thorny issue is government scholarships. Najib has promised to introduce a new category of scholarships based “totally on merit” for “super-bright students” next year. But will this be another category of scholarships which has racial quotas? Additionally, what is stopping the government from publicising the list of scholarship recipients and how they qualified?
Politics
Within Umno, Najib has kept his house in order with a new supreme council line-up and a shake-up of the state liaison chiefs to show his seriousness in winning back lost ground from Pakatan Rakyat.
As to Umno’s external image, he’s showing that he’s fighting money politics with party constitutional amendments that will open up voting for the election of top office bearers.
However, these have not been enough for Umno to recoup public confidence as demonstrated from its string of losses in five out of six by-elections since last year’s polls, notes Chin.
Najib at a Umno press conference
Within the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, however, Chin observes that Najib is not mending rifts quickly enough over the BN’s performance in the general and by-elections. The BN convention promised by predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to regroup the coalition has also not taken place.
“Umno did not lose as many seats as MCA, MIC and Gerakan did. Najib is implying that BN’s problems are not Umno’s problem but is the component parties’ problem,” says Chin.
The premier doesn’t help his coalition members either, or their voter base, when he provokes the opposition with the PAS-Umno unity talks idea. MCA has opposed it, saying that it will result in the “Islamisation of Malaysia”. This, however, was before Najib said that Umno was open to talks with PAS. The rest of BN has been silent, which indicates the power play behind the scenes even if the talks are off for the time being.
Democracy and dissent
Najib hasn’t scored well on promoting democracy and handling dissent. Key Performance Indicators in these areas have already been proposed for him.
Not Najib’s most endearing moment (l-r: Najib, with the three
Perak independents Nasaruddin, Hee and Jamaluddin)
“In fact, he has appeared to be more of a hardliner,” observes Chin.
Beginning with the Perak power-grab, little else Najib has done or could do would likely endear people to the BN short of a snap poll in the state. The same Merdeka Center poll showed that 44% of total respondents wanted fresh elections for Perak, and another 18% supported by-elections in the seats of the three independents who triggered the crisis — Jelapang, Changkat Jering and Behrang.
What about Najib’s release of Hindraf leaders and others from Internal Security Act (ISA) detention? That’s what every incoming prime minister does, anyway. A promise to review the ISA? Not enough for civil society groups who want it repealed.
(Corrected) Police interfere with a candlelight vigil for ISA detainees,
13 Sept 2008 (pic by Danny Lim)
What about his promise for a freer press? So far, actions haven’t matched words. Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has appeared less embracing of the new media and more restrictive compared to predecessor Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
Najib didn’t make any promises about the police, but he has not done much to reign them in either. Police continue to erode their own image by breaking up DAP dinners, arresting peaceful dissenters, and lawyers attempting to see their clients in the lock-up.
Indira Gandhi’s Muslim convert husband attempted to
convert their three children to Islam unilaterallyOn religion, Najib appears to have struck the right note with non-Muslim Malaysians with the cabinet’s decision not to allow the unilateral conversion of minors to Islam. It is a political gamble for him, but his intentions will only be known once amendments to the relevant laws are brought to Parliament.
In any case, Chin believes Najib was merely reacting to the problems experienced by non-Muslim Malaysians. “He didn’t change anything in the system.”
It’s the economy
Despite his “1Malaysia” slogan, Najib may have ended up highlighting differences more than similarities.
“With 1Malaysia, Najib has subconsciously reinforced the distinction between bumiputra and non-bumiputra in people’s minds,” Chin opines. Ironically, the Merdeka Center poll found that 60% of respondents believe that race relations will improve under Najib.
The prime minister has his work cut out for him — patching over these differences and trying to keep everyone happy, hopefully in time for the next general election.
But, if the Merdeka Center poll is anything to go by, addressing the economy would be the way to do it. Reviving the economy and curbing price hikes was listed as the most important reform by 17% of respondents. Only 1% felt that emphasis on democracy was important. And an overall 62% had confidence in Najib to manage the economy.
So here’s to the economy under Najib, and democratic reforms will have to wait.
And by the time of the next general election, it will be interesting to see where Malaysians stand. 
Eric says
“Police interfere with a candlelight vigil for ISA detainees,
13 Sept 2009 (pic by Danny Lim)”
I believe you mean 13 Sept 2008. Unless you can read the future and take pics of it 😉
[Editor’s note: Yikes! Thanks for pointing that out. Will amend it.]
2nd class says
Economy is more important. We have to fill our stomach before thinking about democracy. So I think Najib did a good job so far. The opposition should stop politicking and manage their states and show good example of governance.
Alan Tan says
Call me negative. Call me a fatalist.
I still think all politicians are liars, this particularly so when you consider that a half truth is a whole lie.
In Najib’s case, he is a new broom. One that as far as I am concerned, has not been able to sweep the old dirt away.
What I am glad to see is a level of public scrutiny higher than anything in the history of Malaysian politics. Keep it up.
After all…… an old broom will sweep clean when the supervisors are around………..
Whatever happened to our Mongolian submarines?
Joon says
1Malaysia? Can he do away with the bumi quota? Can he truly recognise and take good care of all Malaysian regardless of race? WHY THE DISCRIMINATION?
james au says
How much can you trust the BN government? Not much, I suppose. Fifty years of track record show that they have not met their objectives but only [make] empty promises. It’s their trademark governance of promising something and doing another. The PM’s “1 Malaysia” is already a disaster as recent events showed. What more can we say?
Anonymous Coward says
“Economy is more important. We have to fill our stomach before thinking about democracy.”
I’m sorry, what? Democracy is just as important to our nation as improvements to our economy are. Without the people’s ability to realise that their voices will be heard and acted upon — especially when there are no guarantees for this to happen — a lot of societal development will continue to stale. Our mindset as a country seems to be timid; since schooldays, most Malaysians are taught to accept whatever it is that was fed to them — i.e. knowledge, facts, etc — without questioning them. Without questioning and inquisitive minds, how are we to progress beyond our current plateau?
If you want a practical example, then perhaps consider: if the government was spending millions upon millions of ringgit on projects that have no benefit to the people but the people have no say in what the government does, how will we be able to stop the waste? How do we, as Malaysians, plan to tell the government that they’re making mistakes? There is a reason democracy is useful: to keep everything in check.
That being said, democracy is not a magic bullet, regardless of what some might think.
“So I think Najib did a good job so far.”
This remains to be seen.
“The opposition should stop politicking and manage their states and show good example of governance.”
Not going to disagree with you here, politics for politics’ sake is detrimental to the progress of our country. In fact, let me go one step further and throw a crazy idea out there: why don’t PR start to work with BN on issues that would benefit all Malaysians instead of bickering all the time? The new shadow cabinet should start giving alternate proposals — complete ones, mind you, with implementation plans, costs and others included for Malaysians to consider — instead of just bashing BN in Parliament. Both sides, in my opinion, need to learn to compromise.
Kunyit says
The FIC is not Ekuinas, don’t twist the facts. Despite the current economic conditions that the writer/Chin claims is the reason for the abolishment of FIC, in the future when the economy is better, the FIC will still not be there. It is a permanent move.
The BN component parties are at least more united than the PR component parties which have proven many, many times [that] they [cannot] work together. With differing objectives, how can they?
Malaysia is a multi-racial country […]. Which means Malaysians realise that we have more than one race. But we must live in harmony in Malaysia and love Malaysia as a country which means one country.
By the way, unity government was initiated by PAS, not Umno.