Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin hopes that Umno politicians like Muhyiddin Yassin and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and the Malay rulers, would act quickly to ensure the country and its economy do not decline further.

In a blog posting, the former New Straits Times Group editor-in-chief said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had lost the moral authority to rule the country ever since winning the May 5, 2013 general election, following the scandals he is facing.

This is despite Najib's propaganda machine claiming otherwise on the prime minister’s pet project, the 1MDB, Kadir said.

Since Jan 4, he pointed out, Bursa Malaysia has seen a decline by 3.53 percent within nine days of trading and the stock market declined further today.

“According to The Economist, between Dec 31 and Jan 6, Bursa Malaysia dropped 5.3 percent, while the value of the ringgit against the dollar declined by 24.6 percent.

“Despite the sale of the independent power producers (IPP) and Bandar Malaysia to Chinese investors by 1MDB, confidence seems to be dwindling.”

The veteran newsman noted that financial analysts see the rise and decline of the stock market as a yardstick or indicator of the confidence of investors.

“We throw out the external factors and the fall in Bursa Malaysia represents the rejection of investors towards the resolution of the 1MDB scandal and the confidence they have in Najib,” he said.

Kadir said if the stock market is not the only yardstick, the declining confidence suffered by Najib, following Moody's revision of the credit rating of Malaysia from ‘positive’ to ‘stable’ showed that the government would have to pay more in interest if it decides to borrow funds.

He said in this scenario, where the government's revenue is declining due to the plunge in oil prices, the Finance Ministry may be forced to borrow funds.

“Najib's fiscal policy of getting rid of subsidies and introducing goods and services tax was directed at increasing its credit rating, but the opposite happened,” he noted adding that the people are suffering and the downgrade is affecting the country.

‘Be cautious of new security bill’

While others say the solution may lie in the 14th general election, Kadir is not confident that this would be so, for he is concerned that by that time, Malaysia could turn out to be a failed state, where the people become more poorer and the recovery of the economy could be much more difficult.

“There is also no guarantee that a new party would come to power. Be cautious of the National Security Council Bill 2015, which will give wide powers to the PM,” he warned.

“Hence, if anyone who feels responsible about changing this situation to save the country – maybe Tengku Razaleigh or Muhyiddin or anyone else – they should address the situation quickly.

“The Malay rulers are also culpable, as they issued a statement last Oct 6 that uplifted the hopes of the people, as they are the protectors and final saviours of the rakyat and country. In their statement, the rulers wanted swift action taken on the investigations into 1MDB and to find the culprits involved,” Kadir said.

“The people know the stand of our Rulers. Do not fault the people as they are not blind. All parties should act quickly and sternly. Act quickly, or do not give false hopes to the people.”