Plan needed to undo NEP deviations - Kit Siang
A plan is needed to help undo the deviations of the New Economic Policy (NEP), said DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.
He said this is backing the call by Nazir Abdul Razak, who is the brother of ex-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, as well as other prominent figures for a national reset.
"There should be a 10-year plan to...
A plan is needed to help undo the deviations of the New Economic Policy (NEP), said DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.
He said this is backing the call by Nazir Abdul Razak, who is the brother of ex-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, as well as other prominent figures for a national reset.
"There should be a 10-year plan to undo the deviations and injustices of the NEP and the curse of corruption which are the major causes for Malaysia losing out to other countries in the past half-a-century," Lim said.
He noted that Nazir, along with other prominent figures, in their letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Conference of Rulers, had said that the reforms made in the 1970s, including the NEP, were not intended to last indefinitely.
"In its early years, the new system was largely successful, bringing much-needed political stability, accelerating economic growth, reducing poverty, and rebalancing wealth between communities.
"But the system also had negative side effects, namely heightened corruption, the hardening of identity politics, and concentration of power, which grew in prominence as the system was prolonged.
"These negative side effects feed on each other and are at the heart of Malaysia’s systemic dysfunctions today," they had said.
Lim, who is the Iskandar Puteri MP, said the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed the issues faced by the country which must be addressed.
"The 23-month Covid-19 pandemic should be a wake-up call to Malaysians that in the last half-a-century, Malaysia had been failing to live up to our potential whether in talents or resources, and one nation after another is overtaking Malaysia whether in terms of international competitiveness, good governance, the fight against corruption, or providing an effective and successful government.
"We must pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and stop regressing and work to fulfil our promise to be a world-class great nation.
"This is not going to be achieved in a year or two, not even in a decade or two, but let all Malaysians have a common vision to achieve the objective of a world-class great nation before Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057 – in 36 years’ time," he said.
The group of prominent leaders had called for a "Better Malaysia Assembly" to identify specific policies and legislative changes that are required as regular MPs have failed to address structural issues.
They had proposed for the process to be overseen by the Conference of Rulers.
Among the signatories of the letters include ex-deputy prime minister Musa Hitam, ex-Johor menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman, Ambiga Sreenevasan, Andrew Sheng, Sheriff Kassim, and others.
