Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's team reigned supreme in the last general election with promises of reforms in democratic governance, socio-economic policies, government linked economic institutions, the police force and others.

However, the mid-term review of his maiden term in office is anything but impressive.

On democratic reform, Abdullah did not take any concrete steps to ensure better augmentation of power between the executive and the legislature. Instead, several controversial actions were taken by his administration which undermined the prestige and independence of parliament.

A 'department' of parliament was mooted, approved and almost implemented complete with a director-general and his supporting personnel. This makes a mockery of the August house. Then, a deputy minister from a coalition partner was suspended and disciplined for apparently speaking up against the government regarding the plight of Malaysian medical students in an overseas university.

It is apparent that the prime minister is not ready to allow more flexibility for debates in parliament especially amongst its Barisan Nasional members. Hence, often members of parliament are cowed into silence instead of speaking up for the people.

The prime minister appears to have lost control over some of his own party warlords, their business proxies and senior civil service personnel who defy his instructions and advice or act on policy decisions at their own whims and fancies.

Lacking firepower

His campaign against corruption was all smoke and noise but lacked the actual firepower to bring about a total institutional reform to ensure checks and balances are in place to keep corrupt practices at bay.

So far, the war against corruption staged by his administration comprises merely small guerrilla battles against a few individuals instead of going against the system which breeds corruption. The verdict Malaysia continues to stay in the middle of the corruption index chart.

Many of the key recommendations by the Royal Police Commission have been left unimplemented. Reason given is that the government is still studying the report. An important recommendation made was the establishment of an independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission to oversee public complaints against the police.

The prime minister's silence on this important recommendation is deafening. Recent cases of police abuse are alarming and provide a significant warning signal to the government to act fast on this issue. It is clear that these reported abuses are creating a real security concern which is undermining some economic activities such as tourism and the arrival of foreign students to the country.

Paradoxical policies

On the economic front, Abdullah's economic policy consists of paradoxes, political anecdotes and anti-competitiveness elements. Some of his policy decisions, especially on the revival of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and the Malay Agenda through the thinly disguised New National Agenda (NNA), are counter productive to some of the measures taken by his predecessor.

Towards the end of the Mahathir administration, there was an attempt to introduce meritocracy into the socio-economic system after more than two decades of race-based affirmative policies which stifled our economic competitiveness.

The policy reversal was necessary to enable Malaysia to maintain its attractiveness as a foreign direct investment destination especially after the Asian financial crisis, to reduce brain drain in the run-up to Malaysia's ascension into the knowledge era and to encourage private investment.

Re-emphasis of the Malay Agenda or the NEP without properly addressing the need to grow the economic cake, improving inefficiency and sagging productivity or enhancing the implementation mechanism is an effort in futility. Moreover, details of the New National Agenda were not made available for public scrutiny. This is counter productive to the policy reversal implemented by the previous administration.

Distorting history

Socially, several initiatives taken by the current administration to promote better inter-ethnic relations are nothing new e.g. national unity forums, open houses et cetera. Instead communal taunts and intolerance are still being condoned in parliament, political conventions and other public events.

Almost all major religions in the world are being practiced in Malaysia and yet we do not have an officially sanctioned inter-faith council to promote better religious understanding and cooperation.

Religious intolerance due to the action of some groups seeking to promote exclusivity of their religion is destroying the fabric of our multicultural and multireligious society.

Equally disturbing is the act by certain parties and newspapers attempting to distort the historical narration of this country by promoting a very different version of the understanding of the social contract.

This creates a fertile breeding ground for ethnic nationalism and disunity. In promoting reform, the prime minister should act to promote, defend and assure equal political, economic and social rights for all Malaysians. Nevertheless, his track record so far is long on rhetoric and short on action.

Will the Abdullah administration, which started with a bang, end with a whimper?

KHOO KAY PENG is the executive director of the Sedar Institute, a think-tank involved in the research and monitoring of key national socio-economic issues.