The Abdullah government would have fallen because of the 41% to 63% unconscionable and brutal oil price hikes if he is in South Korea, which saw the new South Korean President's popularity plunging in less than four months from a presidential victory with the biggest margin in the nation's history to a support rate of under 20 per cent and his entire Cabinet offering to resign – after a month of mammoth demonstrations against the planned resumption of US beef imports.
Malaysians are still puzzled as to the reckless and sudden manner in which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the unconscionably brutal petrol and diesel price hikes, after a Cabinet Minister had given the assurance that no oil price increases were on the cards until August.
The failure to announce a holistic package of mitigation measures to cushion the most vulnerable sectors from the sharp impact of the drastic oil price increases until five days later strengthened the impression that the decision was driven more by political than economic considerations.
Was the euphoria from his Sabah visit four days earlier believing that his slew of goodies had "fixed" up the Sabah problem and stabilized his government which had been fighting speculation that large numbers of Sabah MPs were seriously contemplating abandoning the National Front ship the cause for his recklessness in suddenly deciding to announce the drastic and brutal oil price increases on 4th June?
Abdullah's euphoria proved to be short-lived, for he had to rush to Sarawak to placate the Sarawak political leaders from Barisan Nasional, who felt doubly aggrieved from being left out of the largesses given out to Sabah as well as the adverse effects of the new oil price hikes.
As a result, even the RM2 billion austerity measures announced by the government appeared to be panicky reactions to the widespread and deepseated public anger and outrage at the oil price hikes which seemed to have taken the Prime Minister and his advisers by surprise.
The Minister or adviser who proposed a 10 per cent cut of entertainment allowances of Ministers and Deputy Ministers, for instance, should be sacked, for it had fuelled greater anger and outrage for two reasons – the paltry sum of 10 per cent cut for entertainment allowances and the revelation for the first time that Ministers and Deputy Ministers enjoy such entertainment allowances which even MPs, let alone the ordinary public, are not aware of!
All in all, the impression created is a most unprofessional and ham-fisted handling of the oil price increase crisis – which is aggravated by a lack of compassion and care for the vulnerable sectors of the society, as seen not only by the quantum of the drastic oil price hikes but also by the continuing government mindset which takes waste, extravagance, lack of accountability such as the Petronas billions and financial scandals like RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal as an acceptable part of the Abdullah administration.
Unless the Cabinet is prepared to sincerely and actively win over the support and co-operation of the Malaysian people in the fight against inflation, by involving them and their representatives in the anti-inflationary strategy and to eradicate waste, extravagance, corruption, financial scandals and establish high benchmarks of accountability and transparency which also affect Petronas, the government has only itself to blame if it is seen as completely irrelevant to the needs, sufferings and hopes of Malaysians in their daily lives.
Lim Kit Siang
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