Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been urged to fulfill his pledges of reform he made when he took office more than two years ago and he should jump start this by 'cleaning out' his Cabinet.

Apart from the usual rhetoric on reform, Abdullah has little to show on delivery of his reform pledges which he made soon after taking over from his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang today.

"A Cabinet downsizing and reshuffle is long overdue and should not be delayed any longer any further delay can reflect adversely on Abdullah's judgment and leadership qualities as prime minister,"said Lim in a statement.

"If anything is to be salvaged, Abdullah must urgently downsize and reshuffle his cabinet. This represents the last hope. He cannot continue to be one man versus the system," he added.

Lim said although there had been high expectations for Abdullah's reform pledges - resulting in an unprecedented landslide Barisan Nasional victory in the March 2004 general election - public hope was waning.

"The time has come for the prime minister to fully focus on his pledges of reform to lead a clean, incorruptible, trustworthy, accountable, just, efficient, competent, people-oriented administration which is prepared to listen to the truth from the people," he added.

Clear examples

Recent crises showed that the premier has failed in his reform quest and has no choice but to remove 'all the deadwood' in his Cabinet, Lim said, adding there were three clear examples:

  • 'Although one of Abdullah's first reform initiatives is his announcement of the Royal Police Commission in December 2003 , public confidence in the police has now reached an all-time low when it should have scored a significant turnaround of public confidence seven months after the

submission of the commission's report;

  • Although Abdullah has proclaimed the National Integrity Plan and set up the Institute of Integrity of Malaysia, they have failed to make any impact in creating a new culture of public integrity with zero tolerance for corruption as highlighted by the worst case of money politics in Umno's party elections last year;

  • The worsening crisis of higher education in Malaysia, highlighted by the Times Higher Education Supplement (Thes) World University Ranking 2005 with the nation's premier university, Universiti Malaya falling 80 places from 89th to 169th ranking with Universiti Sains Malaysia falling out of the top 200 bracket altogether from its previous 111th position.

    • There's still hope

    Lim also said that the strong majority Barisan Nasional won in the 2004 general election seemed to be working against the premier.

    He claimed that a weak opposition currently comprising only eight per cent of parliamentary seats - the lowest in history - had made it difficult for the necessary checks and balance to help Abdullah deliver his reform pledges .

    "The 92% Barisan Nasional parliamentary majority has turned out to be the biggest obstacle to Abdullah's reform programme," he said

    Lim said that even former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had recently said a 'too strong' government was a threat to democracy and good governance.

    "Although Abdullah is personally committed to his reform pledge, after more than two years as Prime Minister, he remain a lone voice in his Cabinet and government to create a new culture for zero tolerance for corruption."

    "I am not yet prepared however to completely write off all hopes that something solid and durable can still be achieved from Abdullah's reform pledges, although time is running out and it is becoming more and more difficult to sustain such a belief," added Lim.