Insufficient Time? Excuses, excuses.
Wednesday August 27, 2008
Muhammad: Takeover won’t happen
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim may have won in Permatang Pauh but he will not take Putrajaya because the claimed Sept 16 government takeover by the Opposition will not materialise.
“Anwar won in his turf. His wife gave up the seat for him,” said Umno Information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib.
“In Parliament, the number of seats remains for the different political parties. No change. Barisan Nasional still holds the majority seats.”
Muhammad is convinced Barisan MPs would stay united.
“They have given their word to remain united in Barisan, and together, we will work towards development and reform.
“Anwar will try to break this spirit of unity, but that will only remain his wish,” said Muhammad.
Asked if Barisan was keeping tabs on MPs from Sabah, Muhammad said the channels of communication were always open among the top leadership of component parties in Barisan.
“There is trust among us. Our partners have said they will be with us. And we have faith in the assurance given,” he said.
As for Barisan’s defeat in Permatang Pauh, Muhammad said the coalition did not have sufficient time to implement the reforms planned after the March 8 general elections.
“It was too soon after March 8 for us to implement all the reforms and yield results to convince the voters there to support us.
“Therefore, the locals felt Anwar was the best. Whatever the issues, whether it was the swearing or others, they turned a deaf ear (to Barisan),” said Muhammad.
He said the decision of Permatang Pauh voters must be respected. Barisan, he added, would not be discouraged from continuing with its development and reform programmes.
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Note the areas highlighted in red? When I read it, I was seriously dismayed.
It has been close the 6 months since Penang fell into the hands of the opposition. While Barisan might not have had enough time to implement any of the reforms they “promised” Penangites while campaigning during this year’s General Elections, they sure had enough time to retract all those promises and scrap Penang mega-projects from the 9MP. Beneficial projects such as the monorail, expansion of the Penang airport and the PORR have been scrapped and forgive me for assuming that this is the federal government’s method of punishing the people of Penang for not voting for them. If 6 months is insufficient, what about the >5 years the previous ruling government wasted on the PORR? I clearly recall being in school when the PORR was first brought up and now I’m in my final year of uni, it has not begun and is now scrapped.
I’d only like to say one thing – excuses, excuses, excuses.
Mr. Muhammad, the truth is, Barisan has had decades to do something about Penang and to start implementing the promised and practice what it preaches. While it’s true, 6 months might not be sufficient to produce significant change, Barisan has had a whole lot more than just 6 months to show us that they are worthy leaders.
Right now, it’s Pakatan’s turn to lead the pack. Let’s sit back, relax and wait and see if Pakatan can do for us Penangites what Barisan has not been able to do. Perhaps 5 years might not be sufficient, but it’s a start.
