LETTER | Has Madani govt forgotten its promises of reform?

LETTER | On Tuesday morning, nearly 100 people attended Bersih’s rally demanding 100 percent reforms at the Tugu Negara in Kuala Lumpur.

The participants gathered at 8am before making their way towards the Dewan Rakyat where MPs were due to convene.

It was a timely reminder to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the coalition government that their voters will continue to pressure for the reforms that were promised.

But why was such drastic action even necessary?

More than a year into power Anwar’s government has proven themselves to be slow at tackling the very reforms which they championed in the past.

Many critics have highlighted concerns of double standards such as in the direct award of important government contracts, the issuing of a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for high-profile corruption cases and the urgent need to split the role of the attorney-general and public prosecutor.

Freedom of speech

Furthermore, there have been growing concerns about Malaysians’ freedom of speech being curtailed.

A transparency report published by Meta in December 2023 said that the group restricted 3,100 pages and posts on Facebook and Instagram from Malaysian users between January and June 2023 for allegedly violating local laws.

This was six times higher than in the previous half-year period and the highest since 2017 when the company first began reporting content restrictions in Malaysia.

Similarly, in a report published by the social media platform TikTok in November 2023, it was said that the platform had received 340 requests from the government to remove or restrict content between January 2023 which affected 890 posts and accounts.

This is a far cry from the promises to protect freedom of speech during Pakatan Harapan’s electoral campaign.

Malaysia’s fiscal position

Anwar’s government has also failed to deliver on the economic front. Malaysia’s gross domestic product in 2023 was 3.7 percent (lower than the revised four percent estimate), and the ringgit continues to weaken against the US dollar.

While inflation remains stable, government spending on subsidies of key goods such as petrol and food staples is putting increased pressure on the country’s fiscal position.

There is not only a need for a more targeted approach to subsidies, but to also examine the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

While food staples such as rice should remain, the price of sugar should be normalised as it encourages overconsumption and leads to health problems.

Not all reforms will be popular, but they are necessary. Understandably, any new administration will need time to find its feet.

But having been in power for over a year now, the transition and honeymoon period has lapsed. It is high time that Anwar’s government starts delivering on their promised reforms.

To quote a line from the Broadway musical, “Hamilton”: “Winning was easy. Governing’s harder.”

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.