In an interview in August 2022, Anwar said that he expressed regret over Pakatan’s failure to institute due reforms when it held federal power during the 22 months, leading to dismay due to unfulfilled promises.
He said except for some limited successes, particularly in exposing scandals and bringing to justice the perpetrators of corruption, if given another chance, the coalition would be more committed to delivering promised and much-needed reforms to the public.
He said it is Pakatan’s mission to new systems that will guide the country towards becoming a peaceful, multiracial democracy that is economically vibrant and respectful of the public.
Anwar was sworn in as the Prime Minister on 24 Nov 2022.
At the recent PKR special national congress held on 18 march 2023, Anwar said he is speaking at the congress as the PKR and reformation movement president at the 'reformasi' base.
In 2018 when Pakatan won and became the government of the day, it promised a slew of reforms that it will implement. The PH manifesto enumerated 10 changes it would implement in the party’s first 100 days in power and 60 it would institute over the course of five years.
Below are some of the promised reforms that didn’t even get to be considered as their tenure was cut short after 22 months:-
1. Abolish toll collections in stages.
2. Corporate reforms
a. Government-linked companies will operate in sectors that face market failure, instead of competing with private companies,
b. Re-examine company monopolies to make sure goods and services are fairly priced,
c. Set a time limit for property developers to finish housing projects,
d. Introduce an Act to prevent the government from using citizens' money saved in government-linked funds for expenditure purposes,
e. Revamp the National Trust Fund Act - a fixed percentage of state oil and gas firm Petronas' profits, at a minimum of RM10 billion a year, and profits of other government-linked companies to be channelled into the fund,
f. Increase petroleum royalties to East Malaysian states Sabah and Sarawak, and other petroleum-producing states, to 20 per cent. Examine the rights of Sabah and Sarawak over their national resources and oil and gas reserves.
3. Labor
a. Reduce the number of foreign workers from 6 million to 4 million;
b. Validate the status of UNHCR card holders as refugees to allow them to work in Malaysia and reduce the country's dependency on foreign workers.
Under the then PM7, an Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) was established in 2018 to gather information from the public and produced a comprehensive roadmap for legal and administrative reform. The Institutional Reform Committee’s report was submitted to the PM7 in July 2018. The report was never made public and it appeared to die a natural death under the 2 successive administrations.
To demonstrate that the present unity government practiced the transparency and accountability as consistently touted by PM10, maybe it is time that the IRC report be made public.
Similarly, on 12 May 2018, the PM7, without any legislative endorsement and accountability, formed a Council of Eminent Person (CEP), purportedly to advise him on socio-economic and financial matters of the country.
According to a statement from the Chairperson of the CEP, they completed their mandate and a report, containing recommendations by the council, was submitted to PM7 in August 2018.
The Chairperson reportedly said that 3 key themes shaped the council’s recommendations – 70 topics of recommendations for reform - and it revolved around the need to improve governance, the well-being of the people and the need to ensure that the economy was inclusive and sustainable.
According to the Chairperson, who cited that they underestimated the magnitude and severity of the problems, the first part of the CEP’s recommendation dealt with governance issues and institutional reforms where it looked into areas of parliamentary reforms, judiciary appointments, the concentration of executive powers, abolition of oppressive legislation, government agencies reform, human rights laws, as well as, communications and media and include measures to strengthen the independence of Malaysia’s core institutions and enhance their respective governance framework with the objective to put an end to the era of widespread corruption and abuse of power that has plagued the country.
One of the key recommendations by the CEP was on,
(a) How to grow an economy that is inclusive and sustainable is to include the development of a new framework for investment incentives with the aim to reverse the structural decline of the economy,
(b) Fiscal reforms aimed to strengthen fiscal discipline and accountability, especially in debt management,
(c) Ways to increase revenue, as well as, redesign the tax policy to ensure that it was progressive, fair and balanced, and
(d) Ways to optimise expenditures, with emphasis on efficiency and reducing leakages.
PM7 has openly said several times that the report will not be made public despite exhortations from lawmakers requesting for it to be done so.
Again, if Anwar is to practice transparency and accountability, he should release the CEP’s report to the public.
If PM10 is worried about the repercussions on national security, the government can prioritise recommendations that are not directly related to national security and diplomatically sensitive matters, particularly recommendations that are relevant to improving livelihoods, the economy and governance.
As Anwar publicly admitted in August 2022, Pakatan failed to deliver on its promised reforms in 2018.
To the public, however, the promised reforms were a shambles.
Presently, it appears that no one took a handle on promised reforms. There was no sequence. Any proposed reforms were not clearly communicated with a time table to the public.
It appears that the task of reforms and reset lies elsewhere.
If ever a government had the mandate and popularity to progress a bold reformist economic agenda, it is now as the present unity government has the 2/3 majority.
Anwar and his government can go down history for pulling and putting the country back to its original trajectory. Or they can join the last 6 administration in driving the drivel into the country’s journey into oblivion.
The ball is in the court now.
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