By Helen Ang
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Anwar Ibrahim made a populist overture with his promise that petrol prices will be kept under the lid … if he comes to power, that is. The Abdullah Administration seems determined that the carrot Anwar is dangling will be out of our reach.
The government announced the 78-sen increase in petrol per litre on June 4. The PM first said prices at the pump would be adjusted monthly based on the global oil price. At the same time, Abdullah Badawi announced “the restructuring of the subsidy package” – a move that would save the authorities a tidy sum of RM13.7 billion. And the savings are to be diverted … urm, money to be used to succour the poor rakyat.
But also again, the PM for all Malaysians told the public to make changes in their lifestyle to mitigate the financial pinch.
Yet barely a few days prior to the announcement, Najib Razak brushed off speculation that petrol prices would increase by 40 sen (in retrospect, a relatively more welcome quantum). The Star reported on March 31 the deputy PM as saying, “There’s a lot of speculation and talk going around. But none of it holds water. The public should not listen to rumours.”
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/31/nation/21415770&sec=nation
And on June 3 – the eve of Abdullah’s announcement – Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Abdul Samad said the full subsidy system couldn’t be decided immediately. The Star reported Shahrir saying the Finance Ministry was still evaluating all proposals and a final decision on the scheme would only emerge in August.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/3/nation/20080603144707&sec=nation
So we have top men in government saying different things within the span of a week, and the right thumb not sure what Morse Code the left fingernails are tapping.
What does the former top man in government think? Petronas advisor Mahathir Mohamed blogged on June 6: “But Petronas made a profit of well over RM70 billion, all of which belong to the government. I feel sure that maintaining the subsidy and gradually decreasing it would not hurt government finances.”
http://test.chedet.com/che_det/2008/06/oil-price.html
Dr M also displayed his trademark biting sarcasm on the reverse gearing: “A few days ago the government decided to ban sale of petrol to foreign cars. It flipped. Now foreign cars can buy again. Flopped.”
“The increase hurts but the pain is greater not just because of the increase percentage-wise is higher than in developed countries but because of the manner the increase is made,” Che Det posted.
Instead of a gradual decrease in petrol subsidy, the government opted for the big-bang method – a sudden hefty price hike. If the price increase is spread out over time, each rise will give an excuse to other retailers to raise prices too, so there is really some advantage to a one-time sudden spike.
However, the PM did not have this economic rationale in mind when he hit consumers with the 78-sen whopper. After all, he had initially announced on June 4 that prices would be adjusted monthly based on world oil prices.
On June 11 after a sustained national uproar, the PM made a turnaround announcing that there will be no further increase to the price of fuel in the country this year. As Dr M judges correctly, Abdullah flip flops. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/11/nation/20080611194511&sec=nation
In truth, I’ve plenty of beef with Dr M; in fact, enough to hold a kenduri. But the Abdullah Cabinet coming to town on the fuel hikes is a circus that even former ringmaster extraordinaire Mahathir couldn’t have surpassed. Press coverage over the past weeks since the price hike announcement has been a media circus too. Time to fold the tent on both?
NEXT: ‘Petrol (2)’ on the subsidy spin.
The People's Parliament 
a concerned voter
June 29, 2008
Dear Helen,this is the price the rakyat have to pay for having an imam,specialising in pengajian agama, managing the country’s economy.No doubt he has advisers but they are just as hopeless and clueless.
We have the voters of Sabah and Sarawak to thank for,for voting in BN overwhelmingly in GE12.
The price for oil has reached US140 per barrel this week.The effects will reach us soon.Poor poor us!!
matt
June 29, 2008
Some how what P.Ramlee said is all coming true go forward gostan remember.
Leithaisor
June 29, 2008
If Abdullah Badawi was my employee, I would have firstly offered him a face-saving jalan out of the job, and failing that (as Pak Lah had post-March 8, when the voice of the Rakyat had spoken so loudly and clearly), fired him a long time ago.
He is, in my opinion, out of his depth, and could not do the job. But still insisting on hanging on.
For the good of the nation, it is best that the present government gulung tikar wihout further delay.
Reniv
June 29, 2008
MAKE A U-TURN & GOSTAN MAKE A LOT OF SENSE! STILL GOING FORWARD BUT THE BACK IS GOING FIRST.
walski69
June 30, 2008
It’s flip-flop after flip-flop that’s eroded the credibility of the current government, pre-GE and even more so now, post-GE.
So much so that whatever is announced by the government, the first reaction (from me, at least) is “Yeah, right.”
IMHO, part of the problem sometimes is in the way things get announced, with arrogant certainty, almost. In the case of fuel prices, however, uncertainty is the only thing that we can be credibly certain of.
And perhaps, if nothing else, it will be just that arrogance which causes the current government to get the proverbial boot.
Ayoyosamy
June 30, 2008
He has done it again. They say; a leopard never changes its spots. Anwar is so spotted and this time he knew for sure he couldnt escape except to find another hole ie Turkish embassy. He always after the wrong holes. A very sick man with sick ambitions. If he did not do it, he doesnt have to hide. All he has to do to quote Bill Clinton’s famous words “I did not have sex with” Saiful hehe. What a dick!!!!
Ayoyosamy,
Sorry, but this time I think you’re the sicko!
mauryaII
June 30, 2008
The BN and Bodowi have been in this gostan business so long that they seem to have a predilection for anything on the reverse side.
Just look at the latest allegations. Going astern for inspiration ala MamakKutty style. MamakKutty, the virtual dictator of Malaysian politics for 22 years had honed his skills that he could get away with screwing the rakyat with all his grandiose plans.
AAB is a far cry. He tries to imitate the mamak’s style but he doesn’t even understand that the warlords in UMNO especially the C4 Najis is the mastermind behind the latest sandiwara to divert attention from the Alantuya scandal.
Is MamakKutty Najis’confidential advisor? AAB’s fall from grace is being orchestrated by none other than C4 and MamakKutty.
MamakKutty screwed everyone of his deputies. AAB doesn’t even have the imagination to do it.
makenon
July 1, 2008
a very close friend of mine wrote,
dear MPs ( of PP ),
Pls repealed the Penal Code 377 B.I allows the back door wide opened to er..(apanama) corrruptions.
It was based on ancient colonial laws and should be
updated.
`Malaysia Boleh`
Yang berharap,
Achmed asshalueddin kushairi.
strupper2003
July 3, 2008
I could be wrong but consider this, Who is the likely beneficiary in in this Anwar (Pakatan Rakyat) vs Paklah/Najib (BN) battle.
Chedet could hardly contain himself now I reckon, killing two birds with one stone (Saiful).
strupper2003
July 3, 2008
How do I know the BN Govt has abdicated on its responsibility to the Rakyat?
When I looked at the shirts of my colleagues. Its all brownish. They didn’t use poor quality washing detergent. They used bleach for white garments and they sure scrub hard.
The reason their clothes are brownish is because the water they used to wash their clothes is brownish.
I live in non-tropical Australia (with less rain) now and notice how whiter my clothes are, even those brownish ones I brought from Malaysia a year ago.
I use the same detergent and wash it the same way.
If the BN Govt cant manage a natural resource we have in abundance of, how are they going to manage limited resources?
The BN Govt is incompetant in almost all areas of its Key Performance Index. The only area they have proven good at is to divide and rule the rakyat (through stoking racial and religious tension).
Petra
July 4, 2008
dear concerned voter,
if you examine the number of votes given to the opposition in say, kota kinabalu you would find that they exceed the votes given to bn. unfortunately the strategy of forming a pakatan in peninsular msia was not applied to sabah. so votes were split across the opposition parties.