Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has slammed Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his refusal to accept a two-coalition system, warning the non-stop negative politicking will only worsen the economic crisis overtaking the country.
Civil society groups too are becoming increasingly alarmed at the speed of deterioration in the economy and the growing public distrust for the federal government machinery and its institutions, scorned after a recent string of scandalously-biased decisions.
“We must not allow ourselves to get into this kind of morass, otherwise foreign investors will get put off from coming here to invest,” said Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International Malaysia.
“If the politicians do not desist, then this morass will deepen and it will not be just political but also social, because the institutions are now becoming involved. This has to be resolved quickly.”
Anwar, who was officiating a function at the Sin Ming Chinese school in Puchong, took Najib to task for gambling with the economic future of the nation.
“While the leaders of other countries have acknowledged that serious measures are needed to fight the economic slowdown, Malaysia has not issued such statements because the Finance Minister is too busy abducting people. Only on March 10th will he finally take additional steps to tackle the slowdown,” said Anwar.
Malaysia’s MIA file
The reform icon was referring to a slew of people who have mysteriously and suddenly disappeared from public view after being embroiled in some form of scandal or other related to Najib and his Umno party.
The first high-profile Missing-In-Action person, arguably, was a private investigator named P Balasubramaniam, who had linked Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor to the controversial murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.
More recently, three assemblymen - Mohd Osman Jailu, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Hee Yit Foong - too disappeared and could not be contacted for days before suddenly re-emerging in a group to help Najib wrest the Perak state government from the Pakatan Rakyat.
The latest on the MIA list is Hilmi Malek, widely reported to be the ex-boyfriend of Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong.
Hilmi is alleged to have illegally circulated semi-nude pictures of Eli, a move that forced her to quit her state seat and executive councillor post, paving the way for Najib to regain control of Selangor state.
Growing distrust for federal institutions
Since losing big in the March 2008 general election, Najib and Umno have sworn to re-take the five states it lost to the Pakatan - Selangor, Penang, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan - no matter how high the stakes nor how far-reaching the consequences for the country’s economic future.
For example, rumours have been rife that Hee was offered RM25 million ringgit to leave the DAP to support the Umno-led Barisan Nasional. It has also been widely speculated that a budget of at least RM100 million was set aside to topple the Selangor state government.
Najib and his advises - former premier Mahathir Mohamad and ex-finance minister Daim Zainuddin - have also twisted the federal institutions to their advantage.
The most recent cases involved the Election Commission, which has incurred public scorn after two key decisions that many believed were clearly biased against the Pakatan.
Last Friday, the chief of Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commisson, too joined the Umno-organised fray to snap at the Pakatan. Discarding the cloak of discretion that he is duty-bound to wear, Ahmad Said Hamdan publicly discredited Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.
Ahmad’s move - perhaps calculated to please Najib - was immediately condemned by civil society, amid growing fears that trust for institutions and all things related to the federal government was visibly wearing thin.
Keadilan
Civil society groups too are becoming increasingly alarmed at the speed of deterioration in the economy and the growing public distrust for the federal government machinery and its institutions, scorned after a recent string of scandalously-biased decisions.
“We must not allow ourselves to get into this kind of morass, otherwise foreign investors will get put off from coming here to invest,” said Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International Malaysia.
“If the politicians do not desist, then this morass will deepen and it will not be just political but also social, because the institutions are now becoming involved. This has to be resolved quickly.”
Anwar, who was officiating a function at the Sin Ming Chinese school in Puchong, took Najib to task for gambling with the economic future of the nation.
“While the leaders of other countries have acknowledged that serious measures are needed to fight the economic slowdown, Malaysia has not issued such statements because the Finance Minister is too busy abducting people. Only on March 10th will he finally take additional steps to tackle the slowdown,” said Anwar.
Malaysia’s MIA file
The reform icon was referring to a slew of people who have mysteriously and suddenly disappeared from public view after being embroiled in some form of scandal or other related to Najib and his Umno party.
The first high-profile Missing-In-Action person, arguably, was a private investigator named P Balasubramaniam, who had linked Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor to the controversial murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.
More recently, three assemblymen - Mohd Osman Jailu, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Hee Yit Foong - too disappeared and could not be contacted for days before suddenly re-emerging in a group to help Najib wrest the Perak state government from the Pakatan Rakyat.
The latest on the MIA list is Hilmi Malek, widely reported to be the ex-boyfriend of Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong.
Hilmi is alleged to have illegally circulated semi-nude pictures of Eli, a move that forced her to quit her state seat and executive councillor post, paving the way for Najib to regain control of Selangor state.
Growing distrust for federal institutions
Since losing big in the March 2008 general election, Najib and Umno have sworn to re-take the five states it lost to the Pakatan - Selangor, Penang, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan - no matter how high the stakes nor how far-reaching the consequences for the country’s economic future.
For example, rumours have been rife that Hee was offered RM25 million ringgit to leave the DAP to support the Umno-led Barisan Nasional. It has also been widely speculated that a budget of at least RM100 million was set aside to topple the Selangor state government.
Najib and his advises - former premier Mahathir Mohamad and ex-finance minister Daim Zainuddin - have also twisted the federal institutions to their advantage.
The most recent cases involved the Election Commission, which has incurred public scorn after two key decisions that many believed were clearly biased against the Pakatan.
Last Friday, the chief of Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commisson, too joined the Umno-organised fray to snap at the Pakatan. Discarding the cloak of discretion that he is duty-bound to wear, Ahmad Said Hamdan publicly discredited Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.
Ahmad’s move - perhaps calculated to please Najib - was immediately condemned by civil society, amid growing fears that trust for institutions and all things related to the federal government was visibly wearing thin.
Keadilan
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