'Good intention, unsatisfactory execution', says Zaid on govt's reforms

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has graded the government’s execution of promised institutional reforms as unsatisfactory, despite initial intentions before being elected to power.

When asked about the overall performance of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s cabinet, Zaid said the ministers lack individual interaction with the public on policies of their ministries.

“Usually, the ones who speak are Anwar or Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

“The people also want to know details from Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli on subsidy rationalisation, how are the ‘cuts’ done?” Zaid, who claimed there is an overall lack of transparency in government expenditures, told Mingguan Malaysia.

“A lot of things are happening, but people don’t know why.”

Besides Rafizi, Zaid also took a swipe at Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Azalina Othman Said, stating, “I see no reforms done.”

‘Only rhetorical’

Elaborating, Zaid noted how promises of reforms could be made to gain people’s support, but without an actual belief from the politicians that the changes would be done once in power.

“Only rhetorical. Maybe when the government implements reforms, they feel it’s ‘dangerous’ for them.

“If the government is too transparent, many things will be exposed, but with institutional reforms and stricter check-and-balance, their powers will be limited,” he said.

However, Zaid noted other good policies introduced, but it does not change the fact of slow progress on all reforms promised.

On Oct 4, the Cross-Party Parliamentary Group of Malaysia on Integrity, Governance and Anti-Corruption (KRPPM-IGAR) expressed concern over the overall progress of at least four proposed institutional and legal system reforms.

Group chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said one “easy” proposal that did not make it to the Dewan Rakyat this year was to re-enact the Parliamentary Services Act (PSA), formally repealed in 1992.

The government had previously proposed eight legal and institutional reforms. Four of which, including the PSA, were prioritised for implementation within its first two years in power.

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