AUG 6 — Many governmental and political affairs have been in a standstill state after the May 5 general election and the key lies in the coming Umno party election.

The governmental, political and economic transformations highly promoted in the past have now been shelved due to the party election. Meanwhile, many tough remarks could be heard, making the government’s attitude and stand rigid.

The Umno party election is scheduled from December 2 to 7, which means that the transformation plans are now “hibernating”. Under intense international competition and the era when every second counts, halting the transformation plans for six months would be a serious blow to the country.

For instance, global ratings agency Fitch Ratings has reviewed Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating outlook from stable to negative. Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that the government would announce the response measures in the coming Budget to improve our fiscal and macro position.

Budget 2014 is scheduled to be tabled on October 25 and the measures could only be implemented in 2014. The delay might not be good for the panic bond market, as well as the fragile ringgit.

Fitch downgraded Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating based on the government’s slow fiscal reforms. The government should thus intensify its actions to avoid making the credit rating downgrade a reality and hit the country’s economy.

The returns on 10-year government bonds have recently risen to 4.09 per cent and this has increased the financing costs of private enterprises to issue bonds.

To improve the national financial situation, subsidies must be rationalised, spending must be cut while the goods and services tax (GST) must be imposed to expand revenue. However, these measures would not be implemented before the party election.

Meanwhile, the amount of loans and bonds guaranteed by the government has risen to RM143.1 billion in 2012, increasing the risk of national bankruptcy. Fitch had warned as early as a year ago but the authorities had taken it lightly. And now, the debt has continued to increase but reforms and remedial measures would only be taken about six years later, which might be too late.

The same situation occurs if we let racism grow. Some opportunists know that Umno politics is now in a sensitive period and thus they are eager to make extreme remarks.

Political leaders have either taken an evasive attitude or turned a blind eye to racial and religious issues. It would allow the resurgence of sentiments.

If racism becomes the dominant thinking, it would be difficult to implement the 1 Malaysia ideology after the party election and efforts to repair racial relations would also be less effective.

At the same time, the damaged confidence and image requires more time and efforts to restore. For example, the Cabinet has not put forward a solution for the complaints of excellent students’ failure in gaining a place in public universities.

In a statement, the Education Ministry’s Higher Education Sector said that the 39 students who obtained a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0 but failed to gain a place in public universities for the 2013/14 intake will be given priority to enter public universities based on vacancies. However, it did not mention about other excellent students who have also failed to gain a place in public universities. The government’s efficiency has much slower compared to previous years.

In terms of the education blueprint, the Education Ministry has taken a tough stand and has so far not yet announced amendments to it. Government departments would have dialogues with civil groups in the past but it is now confusing as the communication channels have been blocked recently.

If the emphasis on single-stream education in the education blueprint becomes a reality, it is expected to trigger more disputes.

Therefore, political leaders should get rid of the “party election syndrome” as soon as possible and resume normal governmental functioning if it wishes to lead the country out of the morass. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.