Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has swapped his finance portfolio
with his deputy Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak in a bid to show that the power
transition is indeed in motion. The question is: Can the Number Two restore the faith of
the rakyat in the government, and is the transition on track?
AS THE PROSPECTS FOR THE WORLD ECONOMY worsen and the developed economies are either stagnating or are heading for a recession, Malaysia continues to be mired in both political and economic uncertainties.
The appointment of the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, as Finance Minister on Sept 17 has given some hope. In a move described by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a further step towards the power transition, he and his deputy swapped posts. Mohd Najib took finance and Abdullah, defence.
The swap took place at an inauspicious time. It should have been done a long time ago. As early as November 2003, the month Abdullah took over as Prime Minister, I had commented about his unsuitability as Finance Minister.
In the Nov 16, 2003 issue of this magazine, I wrote: ‘It is certainly not a good idea for the Prime Minister to be a full-time Finance Minister for an extended period. ‘A separation between political and financial management will enhance our global standing.
‘Thus, for the good of the country, a capable and experienced person should be appointed to the job. Only then can Malaysia hope to lead the developing world in promoting reform of the global financial and trading arrangements.’
Understandably, other than the muted support and the expression of confidence by the business sector, Mohd Najib’s appointment failed to lift the spirit and the market.
Bursa Malaysia continued to be bombarded by the bad news coming out of Wall Street. The KL Composite Index had, on occasions, fallen below the critical 1,000- point level.
Unless Mohd Najib and his team quickly come up with credible policies and programmes, Bursa could fall further and the monetary and fiscal
