GEORGE TOWN, March 18 — DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng believes that only “Ubah” can save Malaysia from the middle-income trap.

The Penang lawmaker said the middle-income trap is an economic governance issue where Putrajaya’s policy failures have led to a gradual decline and an eventual stagnation in living standards.

“Only Ubah can put an end to crony capitalism and allow Malaysia to escape the middle-income trap,” he said in his party’s 48th anniversary message today.

“Ubah”, the Malay word meaning “change”, was the opposition party’s campaign tagline in last year’s general elections.

The Bagan MP said DAP’s struggle for a just and fair Malaysia is based on rule of law and integrity in leadership that provides opportunities for all against the self-enriching cronies.

He said DAP, a partner in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, has been focused on both democratising national institutions and also in providing socio-economic justice by implementing sound policies to escape the middle-income trap and provide a better livelihood for all Malaysians.

“Malaysians can make a moral choice by voting for a brighter future for our children,” Lim said.

He warned that Malaysia would be stuck with eight countries in East and South Asia that fall within the per-capita income of US$1,036-US$12,516 (RM41,052) such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, China, India and Sri Lanka unless it escapes the middle-income trap.

He cited a recent report from UK weekly, The Economist, in which Malaysia took the world’s third top spot in its crony capitalism index for 2014 for the second consecutive time since the study was last conducted in 2007.

“The Economist said uncontrolled rent-seeking this century was allowing politically well-connected billionaires worldwide to double their wealth,” Lim said, adding that it was evident in Malaysia.

He claimed industries that dealt with energy, finance, construction, highway toll, sewage and trash disposal were monopolised by companies that had close ties with the federal government.

He said Putrajaya should have implemented an inclusive and sustainable growth strategy to escape the middle-income trap.

“We need a more inclusive and sustainable growth strategy that includes infrastructure investment and increasing innovation through research and development,” he said.

Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, said the strategy must also focus on human capital development through education, promotion of entrepreneurship, reduction of income inequality as well as rooting out corruption and cronyism.