Anwar - Malaysia’s finest finance minister
By
Chua Jui Meng
ANWAR Ibrahim’s proven track record as
Malaysia’s finest Malay finance minister is sufficient for the rakyat (people) to give him the chance
to be our prime minister.
Anwar
was appointed finance minister at the age of 44 in 1991. His last five years as
finance minister, from 1994 to 1998, saw Malaysia achieving successive Budget
surpluses and it has been deficits all the way. Malaysia had also been
operating on Budget deficits for 20 years before the emergence of Anwar.
Chua delivering his political discourse
before the arrival of PR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim in Sri Merlimau, Bt 4,
Kolam Air, Parit Sulong, in Johor on Oct 20, 2012.
Today,
Malaysia is saddled with a federal debt of RM502.4 billion or 1.3% short of the
55% legislated debt ceiling.
This
does not include the RM118 billion in off Budget
liabilities or sovereign guarantees for private corporations like the Port
Klang Free Zone and government-linked company loans ending 2011.
However, even these debt statistics
are now in doubt as Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Muhkriz
Mahathir had been quoted by TheEdge
just before Budget 2013 that Malaysia’s borrowings were at RM800 billion.
Which is the correct figure? If
Mukhriz is correct, then obviouslyPprime Minister cum Finance Minister Najib
Abdul Razak had hidden some debts from the public.
Anwar
is definitely the right Malay leader with the capability to pull Malaysia out
from the brink of bankruptcy.
He
also has the right qualities of a reformist, like those leaders in the Arab
Spring who were also jailed by oppressive governments, and were later given the
mandate to rule with people’s power.
Parit Sulong villagers reading The Rocket, DAP’s party organ, before
the arrival of Anwar for his ceramah
(political talk) is a sign of change but discomfort for Umno. It shows the
villagers are willing to widen their reading and think out of the box.
The
brave Turkish people who went for change with Tayyip
Erdogan in 2003 and today, about 10 years after, Turkey registered a 300%
economic growth, is an excellent example of why the rakyat, particularly the Malays, need to think out of the box
Turkey had even settled its
remaining EUR1 billion debt with the International Monetary Fund last April.
Anwar,
in unveiling Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s alternative Budget, made it clear that he
would do away with race-based policies to stimulate and fast track Malaysia’s
socio-economic progress.
He
is the first Malay leader to truly show that he is a courageous leader for all
Malaysians.
These
are the qualities of a capable Malay leader who can become another successful
Arab Spring leader.
PR’s
Buku Jingga and its shadow Budget 2013’s macro-economic fiscal features are
Anwar’s wawasan (vision) and policies
to forward Malaysia, not Barisan Nasional (BN)’s budget of sweets to fish for
votes.
Umno
says Malaysia will go bankrupt if Malaysians vote for change and give PR the
mandate to govern.
In
fact, it is BN that will bankrupt Malaysia with unabated plundering of the
national coffer and ballooning the federal debt.
Mrs Chua (right) is seated with her
Malay brothers and sisters to hear Anwar’s ceramah.
Chua having a word with Anwar before the
start of the ceramah in Parit Sulong on Oct 20, 2012.
