BN-Umno now irrational
By Chua Jui Meng
Chua … Umno-led BN is today an
irrational ruling coalition
THE
Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) is today an irrational ruling coalition that
does not believe in gentlemanly behaviour.
It
will behave ridiculously to disrupt ceramah
featuring Pakatan Rakyat (PR) de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
It
will have the police set up roadblocks to cause traffic congestions to
frustrate the people who want to hear what Anwar has to say.
It
will organise so-called ceramah
nearby with loudspeakers blaring in our direction to try and drown our
speakers.
BN’s
ceramah has no more than 20 people
and they seem to be having a ceramah
among themselves. As a former health minister, I would describe them as tak waras (not quite right).
Why
can’t we respect the democratic process, let the people judge the issues being
articulated by both sides of the political divide and contest on a fair and
level field.
That,
I believe, is what the rakyat wants.
Not BN-Umno’s politics of intimidation and threats
The
BN-Umno government has also become more unreliable and irresponsible, allowing
the federal debt to double to more than RM620 billion from 2004 until today.
That
is 74% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when the legislated
federal debt ceiling is 55%.
When
Abdullah took over from Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister, Abdullah had
lamented to me that the national coffer was empty.
So,
he had to resort to borrowings to keep the country afloat. Prime Minister Najib
Abdul Razak is also doing the same, borrowing like there is no tomorrow.
Both
Abdullah and Najib are equally irresponsible because they should be focusing on
reducing the debts instead.
Some
60% of the borrowings are from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the rakyat’s life savings. Who will be
responsible if EPF goes bust?
Malaysians
should see and learn from what is happening in Spain now. The Spaniards are
rioting and fighting for a change in their government due to excessive
borrowing resulting in severe socio-economic hardship.
Do
we want this to happen in Malaysia before we act to change?
Lawan tetap lawan untuk selamatkan
Malaysia
(Fight we must fight to save Malaysia)!
Malaccans brave the rain to hear out
Chua and later Anwar Ibrahim at the ceramah
in Jasin on Feb 3, 2013.
Other
significant issues that can be attributed BN’s incompetency and thereby
burdening the rakyat are:
Ø Why are we
paying such high excise duty and taxes for Malaysian-made cars but foreigners
are enjoying lower prices?
Ø Why is Mahathir
the world’s second richest former head of government with an estimated wealth
of US$44 billion (more than RM132 billion);
Ø Why are we
paying higher retail prices for oil compared with Brunei? and
Ø Why are we
paying high tolls for use of highways or expressways?
It
is time for Malaysians to punish BN-Umno for corruption, power abuses and
mismanagement of the country’s wealth.
The
best, and perhaps the only opportunity for this century, is in the coming 13th
General Election.
