Malaysians have proposed a slew of things they want the Pakatan Harapan government to address, including improving the performance of inexperienced ministers.
In a qualitative survey by PKR-linked think-tank Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE), respondents said the new administration has many positives, but a clear weakness is the cabinet’s lack of experience in running the government.
They said ministers are not cohesive when making public statements, and not firm enough in their orders and actions.
They also said there have been too many unnecessary changes and too many squabbles within PH components.
The PH administration is also deemed to be “liberal in its understanding”, the survey found.
These points, presented at the PKR retreat in Port Dickson recently, were drawn from the “suggestions for administration and politics” segment of IDE’s Survey Malaysia: Mood of the Nation, conducted from June 28 to 30.
The survey involved 1,597 respondents in 222 federal seats and was conducted through face-to-face interviews by 50 enumerators.
The views on inexperienced ministers and internal squabbles come as PKR is again embroiled in a leadership dispute, this time between president Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy, Mohamed Azmin Ali, following a series of sex clips implicating the latter.
Azmin, who is also economic affairs minister, has denied being in the clips and called them a plot to destroy his career.
Still better than BN
Despite these negatives, the respondents said PH is a better administration than its predecessor, Barisan Nasional, and that they are willing to give the new government more time to get its act together.
They also credited Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s experience as having helped rebuild the country.
Other positives cited are the stabilised prices of some goods and more media freedom under the PH government.
However, the respondents said, PH should reform all ministries, and hold more programmes and public dialogues on policies.
Transferring uncooperative government officers was a suggestion given to improve the administration.
The respondents said they want the government to reduce bureaucracy and cronyism, train more young leaders and boost racial unity.
On the economy, they said they want improved enforcement when it comes to price-controlled items, government expenditure cut for non-essential items, and more schemes for the B40 and M40 groups.
On top of that, they urged PH to provide more job opportunities for younger citizens, increase aid for rural areas, and slash the number of foreign workers.
The respondents also want improvements on Malay and native rights, the survey found. – TMI