COMMENT | If Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is right in saying that three captains in Pakatan Harapan (PH) are bound to cause the opposition coalition to sink, the question is: How?

Zahid's explanation was not compelling. He said when three captains want a ship to sail in three different directions, the ship will meet its end.

That analogy is only correct if the three captains are refusing to yield even when there is an iceberg in front. The iceberg is, of course, the increased cost of living and the massive corruption scandals which have refused to relent.

The root causes are the mismanagement of the economy through corruption, malfeasance and abuse of power, and the imposition of the six percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all transactions.

The latter has had the effect of transferring the burden of fiscal shortage in Malaysia - almost RM42 billion a year - to the people through GST. This has led some economists to wonder how Pakatan Harapan would be able to plug the fiscal gap each year if they came to power.

Zahid has obviously not read the annual auditor-general's reports, which are self-explanatory on the serious issues of leakages and corruption. When leakages are plugged, billions can be saved, especially with the return of the seized and forfeited assets in the United States and six other jurisdictions.

Bandar Malaysia, which is worth US$30 billion, will also be re-zoned and re-developed, so that the open tender process can produce the maximum yield...