A new government will typically have 1,825 days of tenure, but within 72 hours in office, PM Anwar and his cabinet colleagues have already presented a long “to-do” list to the amazed public.

It’s official. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s new cabinet has no honeymoon, and before we know who their deputies will be, the newly minted ministers have already clocked in at their respective ministries to start work in full steam.

No doubt, PM Anwar is good at harnessing the power of media to announce to all Malaysians what his ministries are going to do, things from the alleged embezzlement of RM600 billion public funds during the MCO and Emergency, to the ECRL project and down to things as minor as the egg prices, number of special lottery draws and a pay cut for the ministers…

A new government will typically have 1,825 days of tenure, but within the first 72 hours in office, PM Anwar and his cabinet colleagues have already presented a long “to-do” list to the amazed public.

Next, we are looking to the new government to come up with a 5-year national development blueprint, the 2023 Budget, a priority list for mega public infrastructure projects and other short-, medium and long-term plans to take the country forward in the right direction.

We have heard a great deal of noises as Anwar was putting up his new cabinet after the election, but all this has been drowned in Anwar’s swift actions as he starts discharging his duties as the head of government. Of course, we expect the newly sworn in ministers to also do their jobs just as dutifully and tirelessly as their boss.

We would like to analyse here the various issues which have been brought up by members of the cabinet after Anwar chaired the first cabinet meeting on Monday.

Violation of rules on RM600 billion public funds during MCO and Emergency

Anwar said he learned from the finance ministry officials that there was indeed violation of rules, including massive procurement without open tendering, and the excessive special (emergency) fund approval. He said all these would be investigated for possible involvement of corruption and abuse of power.

Muhyiddin Yassin said he was not involved in fund misappropriation and was therefore not afraid of being probed.

At the same time, the former PM also urged the unity government not to make false allegations and should just do what a government is supposed to do.

Of course, Anwar needs not conduct the investigation himself, as the job can be handed down to the investigating authorities. And sure enough, probing any suspected irregularity is very much what the government ought to do, or Najib would not have been put behind bars and the 1MDB scandal would have remained unexposed to this day!

Egg prices, rice monopoly and fewer lottery draws

Let’s first talk about the prices of eggs. Each Malaysian on average consumes about 300 eggs a year, and indeed eggs are a principal source of protein for the country’s B40 community.

So, reducing egg prices and stabilizing its supply have become major everyday issues for the rakyat.

We would like to propose to the new government to conduct comprehensive reviews of the supply and pricing of all daily necessities.

Anwar is said to have “reprimanded” tycoon Syed Mokhtar over rice monopoly, and the issue is said to have been been resolved, meaning the plight of the people has been addressed.

But what about other stuffs like sugar, flour and cooking oil?

As for the number of special lottery draws, it has been cut down from 22 to eight times a year, which is not a bad thing by all means given the fact buying a lottery ticket is akin to buying a dream, and very few people will actually get rich by buying lottery tickets!

20% pay cut and no gifts

By cutting back the salaries of cabinet ministers by 20%, the government will save approximately RM3.02 million a year on operating expenditure, which is a positive culture.

As such, we would also hope that all elected 222 parliamentarians and 607 state assemblymen will also accept a simultaneous pay cut. The total saving could be substantial if each of them takes home RM2,000 less of salary (allowance).

Also of tremendous significance is the stationing of elected reps at some 50 government-linked investment companies and GLCs. Such postings should be converted to unpaid postings.

The rejection of gifts and gratuities by government officials, salary cut and the removal of fixed allowances should help erect a healthy public office culture, no matter how big or small the amount is.

ECRL project to go ahead

The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project is a joint venture between the Najib administration and China Communications Construction Company.

Spanning 665 km from Kota Bharu to Port Klang, the original construction cost was set at RM65.5 billion but was subsequently slashed to RM44 billion after Mahathir came to power.

The returning transport minister Anthony Loke assured us that the ECRL project would go on as planned and there would be no rerouting of the project.

Flood mitigation budget

Anwar has instructed to terminate the RM15 billion flood mitigation budget approved by the previous administration on the grounds the awarding of projects did not go through the normal open tendering process but rather through direct price negotiations.

Of this amount, RM7 billion has already been approved.
The PM has also instructed that all the projects be reviewed to meet the principle of transparency.

Flood mitigation is a major government undertaking that is expected to last for decades. While plugging the loophole for corruption, the government’s move will also protect the people from the disastrous floods.