Ariff: Malaysia now the sick man of Asia
FMT Reporters
| January 26, 2015
Raub MP, a former Najib aide, describes PM as 'the worst we have ever had'
KUALA LUMPUR: Raub MP Ariff Sabri Aziz, saying Malaysia was now the “sick man of Asia”, has sounded a warning about the state of the economy and foreseeing a time when the Malaysian ringgit might be as worthless as “banana notes”, the currency of the Japanese Occupation in the second world war. Ariff, a former aide to Najib Razak, assessed Najib to be mediocre and the “worst PM we have ever had – even worse than Abdullah Ahmad Badawi according to Mahathir Mohamad”. In a blog posting entitled The Measure of Najib, he said Najib had failed to provide leadership and a clear vision, was unwilling to act tough when needed, and lacked political will, leading him to romancing and flirting with extremist pressure groups who appear to be dictating the government’s conduct. “No one understands what 1 Malaysia means. To Malay firsters, 1 Malaysia means Malaysia under Malay rule.” Ariff said Malaysia was now a nation of debtors. He estimated Malaysia’s total public debt to be RM890 billion, almost 80% of gross domestic product, and household debt at 87% of GDP, and complained that the public did not know the true state of affairs because the government was hiding the figures. Official public debt was about RM570 billion; contingent liabilities (loans by government agencies) about RM170 billion; and off-budget obligations from various financial instruments to be another RM150 billion. Najib’s political problems stemmed from the fact that Umno could no longer secure the support of the whole Malay community, and the MCA could no longer deliver Chinese votes, because the Chinese community now viewed the MCA to be corrupt and were unwilling to put up with corruption.
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