BLOG: Najib deserves his ratings drop
According to the Merdeka Centre survey, approval ratings
for Najib have dropped from 62 per cent in August to 52 per cent. It is his
lowest since September 2009, which was five months after he took over as prime
minister.
He also said that the Cabinet had not made any final decision on the matter, resorting to the current standard operating procedure of the Government to provide itself an escape route whenever it is squeezed into a corner. This means it might flip-flop on its original decision if the response is negative. No wonder it’s losing the trust of Malaysians; after having performed so many flip-flops in the last few years, how could it not?
More than that, the toll hike issue has prompted people to ask questions also related to trust. Is there a real need for the hike when the financial burden on the rakyat is already getting heavier? Can’t the agreement with the highway concessionaires be renegotiated to defer it? Does the new rate have to be so high? Have the concessionaires not made enough – or even more than that – after so many years of collecting toll? Who are the people who are actually benefitting from this while the rakyat suffer?
The Government claims the toll hike will save it RM400 million which would otherwise have to be paid as compensation to the concessionaires. It says this money can be used instead for the country’s development. With our trust in the Government being at rock-bottom, can we be sure this will be the case?
Besides, after having seen the Government use our money in profligate ways, such as inflating the costs of mega-projects so that certain quarters would benefit from kickbacks or bribing the people to vote for the ruling party so it could retain power at GE13, are we confident it will use our money for the right purposes?
The Merdeka Centre Survey shows us we are not. On the question of whether our country is going in the right direction, only 41 per cent said it is. Opposing that was 49 per cent. This is the first time since 2008 that those who said wrong direction outnumber those who said right.
In this regard, the majority of respondents are worried about the Government’s handling of the economy, with 67 per cent saying it is the number one problem facing our country today – way above crime, social problems, racial issues and political issues.
No doubt Najib will pooh-pooh the survey findings, as he did those of Umcedel (Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections) done just before GE13 which showed that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was perceived to be more qualified to be prime minister. But however Najib reacts, he can’t run away from the fact that he has not proven to be a competent leader.
He is weak, he flip-flops, he spends public money extravagantly and gets sarcastic when he’s questioned about it, he keeps silent when the rakyat need him to say something to reassure them, he talks about instituting reform but he dares not go the whole hog. As a result, his so-called reforms have merely been half-measures.
He makes amendments to draconian laws, falling short of repealing them. He did repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance but after GE13, he brought back preventive detention through amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA). He also gave us the dreaded Public Assembly Act (PAA), which narrows our democratic space.
And I haven’t even begun to talk about his colourless record for tackling corruption. Does he even have the guts for it?
So, yes, his ratings have dropped – and this is all I can say: he certainly deserves it. Yes, I reiterate, he does indeed.
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan