On Proton, AP, NEP, Petronas, UMNO assembly ,
MCA elections , Cabinet Reshuffle and State
leadership overhauls
Press Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling Jaya, Tuesday):
The removal of Tengku Mahaleel as the CEO of Proton marks a new
chapter of the tussle between the forces represented by the former and
current prime ministers of the country.The whole world is now waiting
for what Mahathir has to say today. And also what actions he will be
taking - both openly and behind the scene.
Knowing the combative nature of Mahathir, he would not give up without a
fight.But it certainly would not be easy for him this time as Abdullah is
now more ready and prepared than ever.But Abdullah still have to face
Mahathir because the man can still cause him some headaches as the adviser
of Petronas.
The removal of Mahallel was inevitable if Pak Lah was serious about
turning Proton into a competent and competative car manufacturer.Everyone
knows that Mahaleel has been taking instructions directly from
Mahathir.Mahathir will now find it difficult to influence Proton without
Mahaleel.He may have to kiss and say goodbye to his last pet
project during his long 22 years as the prime minister of Malaysia.
The day for Proton to clinch a deal with Volkswagen or other giants as
major partners is now being fast-tracked. This must be done quickly while
Proton is still holding some useful assets and substantial market
shares(44% of the passenger cars).The Government must always keep the
interest of Proton workers (about 100,000) and Proton's vendors at heart.
The open display of APs list holders may have embarassed Rafidah and at
the same time saved some face for Mahathir.But such action would not help
Proton in any way unless the AP system were to be removed all together.
The
recent decision to make Hyundai, Kia, Fiat, Chevolet, Cheery and Mahindra
more costly was not fair to Malaysian consumers, and certainly would not
help Proton significantly in the long run.
And one can now see the possibility of Abdullah transferring Rafidah to
other ministry in maintaining UMNO's political equiliberium.We believe
she would not be axed for the time being because she is still the chief of
the party's women wing. And more importantly, Abdullah still needs people
like Rafidah to fight with the party forces represented by Mahathir.
We hope Abdullah can also revamp Petronas after taking care of Proton. The
time has come for a national energy policy to help saveguard the interest
of all Malaysians.
The long term contracts dealings and involvement in futures market on the
part of Petronas during the Mahathir's era have proven to be flawed and
costly to Malaysian economy. Malaysia will soon (in 5 years) become a net
importer of crude oil according to both Najib Razak and Mustapa Mohamad.
The failed NEP should not be revived. It should not be revived because it
was nothing more than just a vehicle to help UMNO-puteras. Many of them
have become tycoons overnight but the rest of the Malays and other races
in the country have not benefited much from the policy.
DAP' s Secretary General Lim Guan Eng has disclosed in one of his
statements(
www.dapmalaysia.org),
that the latest United Nations Human Development (UNHDP) Report 2004 shows
Malaysia has the worst income disparity between the rich and poor in South
East Asia. The UNHDP Report 2004 shows the richest 10% in Malaysia
controls 38.4% of our economic income as compared to our poorest 10%
controlling only 1.7%.
MCA president Ong Ka Ting and Gerakan Chief Lim Kean Yaik may have
sounded hurt and dissatisfied with the outburst made by UMNO's youth chief
Hishammuddin Hussein on the issue of NEP. But their statements must
be viewed with a pinch of salt because both are facing (or may be facing)
competitions in their respective party elections.They would have been
keeping quite if not for the pending party elections.One may also
concludes that both Ong and Lim will keep their mouths shut once their
party positions were being secured.To risk losing their ministerial posts
for defending the rights of the communities which they claimed
representing is simply not their characters.
We are expecting Abdullah to reshuffle his Cabinet soon after his return
from South Africa.He should not drag his feet for too long. He must remove
some deadwoods and corrupt members in his oversized Cabinet.
Abdullah cannot justify to have six ministers in his Prime Minister
department. He has also yet to justify paying ministerial remunerations to
the Education Envoy and the Advisor on Islam.He should know who were the
deadwoods and corrupt ones we were referring to.
Abdullah should also turn his eyes to the state leaderships. People like
Khir Toyo, Adnan Yakcop and Abdul Ghani are nothing but real embarrassment
to his administration.How could he continue to work with such incompetent
leaders?
As a prime minister, he must not behave as if he has nothing to do with
the sins and crimes committed by his bunch of chief ministers.
Abdullah should also know that many Malaysians were very disappointed with
him when he played to the gallery on the issue of NEP when he made his
closing speech at the UMNO assembly. How could he reconcile betwen
continuing with the ethnic-biased poicy and still be fair to all other
races? Such contradictory stance could only help to cause more Malaysians
to lose faith in this country and may even force some of them to vote with
their feet.
(26/7/2005)
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Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP Internattional Secretary and NGO bureau chief