{"success":true,"data":{"bigTitle":"PMX’s","smallTitle":"year in review","author":"Malaysiakini Team","standfirst":"After a tireless two-decade journey for change, Anwar Ibrahim now commands the ship of state. As we mark his inaugural year at the helm, Malaysiakini reflects on the peaks and valleys, as well as our hopes for the coming year.","article":[{"type":"ads","value":"1"},{"type":"scrollyContainer","value":{"goodTitle":"The Good","goodDescription":"We kick off our reflection on the year that has been under the 10th prime minister (PMX) by looking at the positives.","badTitle":"The Bad","badDescription":"Not everything has been rosy under the PMX. Here are some things which we could have done without.","controversialTitle":"The Controversial","controversialDescription":"Several of the PMX’s moves in the past year have been lauded by some but panned by others.","wishlistTitle":"Our Wishlist","wishlistDescription":"Here are some low hanging fruits with big rewards that we hope PMX will focus on in his second year.","scorecard":[{"id":"1","title":"Compassionate law reforms","description":"One of the early legislative achievements of the PMX administration was to pass laws which abolished the mandatory death penalty, decriminalised suicide attempts and addressed problems faced by qualified individuals seeking bankruptcy discharge.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/0b077adbb2bfd4ff62bb09f7693584a0.jpg","category":"good"},{"id":"2","title":"The Madani Economy","description":"After 10 months, Anwar finally unveiled his economic plan which laid out clear goals for the country. This will be driven by the National Industry Master Plan (NIMP 2030) and the Renewable Energy Roadmap. Putrajaya has already amended its Green Energy Tariff (GET) policy to help industries meet their environmental sustainability goal targets. There is also a bid to expand the tax base through a high value goods tax, coming into force next year.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/01/2c3edc9cdfc3d3f2d5e3af16ab7fca2a.jpg","category":"good"},{"id":"3","title":"Protecting women and children","description":"Anti-stalking laws were passed in March and five months later, a person was charged under the law. Putrajaya is also working on constitutional amendments to give children born abroad to Malaysian mothers a pathway to citizenship, although other provisions in the bill are causing friction among MPs.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/926534036e229835b58b1da51a7da7b8.jpg","category":"good"},{"id":"4","title":"Green is the new black","description":"In a rare feat, the Anwar administration scrapped a royalty linked airport project involving reclaimed land off Tioman island, primarily due to environmental concerns. A concession was also made to scale down the Penang South Island reclamation project.

The Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry also quietly made voluminous EIA reports downloadable, albeit inconsistently, allowing more transparency on the government evaluations of the impact of development on the environment.

Another key measure - allowing rare earth explorations - however, is not sitting well with environmentalists.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2022/06/a8e6b310fe735850ea01fb4432d4495f.jpg","category":"good"},{"id":"5","title":"Moving towards MA63","description":"Anwar appointed Fadillah Yusof as deputy prime minister II, the first time an MP from Sabah or Sarawak has held the post.

The PMX administration also formed the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) implementation action council which has since increased special federal grants to the two territories, restored some regulatory powers to Sabah and initiated discussions on areas such as health and education.

Since then, several policy decisions have been made, for example returning 55 lots of land acquired by the federal government to the Sabah and Sarawak governments.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/01/8fd483e57c044b508673ca89324e78fe.jpg","category":"good"},{"id":"6","title":"Food security","description":"Greater emphasis has been placed on agriculture and supporting such ventures, compared to previous administrations, in a bid towards food security. Although faced with various challenges, like a shortage of chicken, eggs and rice, the government appears to be staying the course to ensure stability on this front.

This includes making the controversial decision to float the price of chicken, which gave consumers a lot to crow about after retail prices fell and securing a special allocation to buy rice from India amid a global shortage. However, ensuring a cheap and consistent supply of rice remains a challenge on both the import and local production ends.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/376ce6b656350008c08f255ca82570fb.jpg","category":"good"},{"id":"7","title":"Pay cut for ministers","description":"Among the first things Anwar announced after taking office was that all ministers will take a 20 percent pay cut until the economy improves. He also promised to work for free under the same conditions.

Although the move was unlikely to have any significant effect on the economy or government expenditure, it gave the new government a PR boost.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/01/b6a46430821321919db2ca16dacf14cd.jpg","category":"good"},{"id":"8","title":"Zahid’s special treatment","description":"Earlier this year, Anwar’s Deputy Prime Minister I Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was given special visitation rights at the Kajang Prison and later escaped having his party Umno deregistered for flouting ROS rules. PMX's anti-graft campaign took its biggest hit in early September after prosecutors capriciously secured a DNAA for Zahid, who is facing a major corruption trial. The acquittal of Bung Moktar Radin, another Umno ally, of corruption charges in September did not help public perception.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/65b0ff08f26ce474019823303b8de748.jpg","category":"bad"},{"id":"9","title":"Abuse of government resources","description":"The PMX appears to see no wrong in using government helicopters for electioneering purposes. Some in his administration are still resorting to announcing government funding as part of election campaigns.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/02/e5869ee20e0b6d696566fdd0ce249a27.jpg","category":"bad"},{"id":"10","title":"Maintaining draconian laws","description":"Despite Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto promising to review or repeal the Sedition Act 1948; Communications and Multimedia Act 1998; and Printing Press and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA), the laws continue to be applied. The most notorious incident saw the PPPA being used to confiscate Swatch watches over alleged “LGBTQ+” elements. Putrajaya also does not plan to review the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/7618d8d4ac4df13f90a0da35a90bcecd.jpg","category":"bad"},{"id":"11","title":"Nicotine for kids","description":"In a move that continues to puzzle health experts, the government in March removed nicotine from the list of controlled substances under the Poisons Act. This was meant to allow the government to impose taxes on vape products that contain nicotine. However, removing nicotine from the Poisons Act also sparked concerns that products containing nicotine could now be legally sold to children. While the government has promised to introduce controls under a new law, the law has been delayed multiple times and has yet to be approved by Parliament.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/b83f22c54a4486fd9ee14bcb4b652c5a.jpg","category":"bad"},{"id":"12","title":"Denying equal funding","description":"The PMX administration has denied equal funding to all lawmakers - despite it being a key Harapan campaign promise. Instead, the government is putting the burden on the opposition to start negotiations for a deal so they can get equal funding. This was despite Anwar’s coalition government already having close to two-thirds of seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

This sets the stage for equal funding to be a bargaining chip held by future administrations and has already resulted in opposition MPs effectively defecting to support the PMX to get access to funds.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/04/a9968682aedb9f81346762dc4f2fb7cf.jpg","category":"bad"},{"id":"13","title":"Communication failures","description":"The PMX administration scored several own goals due to poor communication and timeliness. For instance, the Home Ministry decided in February to suspend its legal challenge regarding the highly sensitive “Jill Ireland case” but only explained its rationale two months later - a day after the case was withdrawn and only after much outcry from Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Similarly, a plan to introduce a 40 hadith module in schools was met with backlash when it was not properly explained from the outset that this would have been exclusive to Muslims.

The government also surreptitiously co-opted Nurul Izzah Anwar - PMX’s daughter - into a Finance Ministry advisory council, leading to an outcry after she was found out.

Anwar’s town halls with students have also had mixed reactions, particularly after the PMX made a seemingly sexist joke during a Q&A or when he shut down a question on meritocracy.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/b165f418afb03f2e875785fb352d0841.jpg","category":"bad"},{"id":"14","title":"Citizenship laws may hurt the vulnerable","description":"Proposed constitutional amendments have been condemned as having the potential to worsen statelessness, and further disenfranchise the marginalised. This includes an amendment which could mean foundlings would no longer be assumed to be citizens, leaving abandoned children to a life of hardship as stateless individuals, constitutional experts and other advocates said.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/09/e90f0080848d82002ed897ae59a011de.jpg","category":"bad"},{"id":"15","title":"Gravy train chugs along, albeit with less coaches","description":"Under prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, most government MPs had a second paycheque from either a GLC or government agency.

This practice of political patronage was reduced under the PMX, but did not cease completely. Malaysiakini has established that at least 19 MPs - excluding ministers - and 40 allied politicians were appointed during the PMX administration to such positions.","img":"https://i.ncdn.xyz/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2021/08/f116e3b419d0251de0aa19414b56c2bb.jpg","category":"controversial"},{"id":"16","title":"Strong stance on Palestine","description":"The PMX government, like the Malaysian governments before this, has been unequivocal in its support for Palestine, amid the latest round of violence in Palestine and Israel. However, beyond foreign policy, it has also crept into domestic affairs including the introduction of Palestine Solidarity Week in schools. The move was polarising, with critics arguing that the programme was a form of indoctrination of young children or worse, using children as a political prop.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/ce0307c378cbb7ccc1e7ea245c2a216b.jpg","category":"controversial"},{"id":"17","title":"Cost of living","description":"One of the PMX administration's best-known programmes has been the Rahmah initiatives, aimed at lowering the cost of living for the needy from food to broadband services. Fibre broadband prices have also been lowered almost across the board in September.

Headline inflation has come down but on the ground experiences differ, largely driven by the impact of the weak ringgit on household goods.

Solutions require a systems overhaul and take years to implement, including a planned targeting of subsidies that could be painful to some households but will assist others.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/01/19776b8ac37fbb447e2659e387b94277.jpg","category":"controversial"},{"id":"18","title":"Religious pandering","description":"The PMX has been accused of religious pandering to win over Muslim voters from PAS, which had extended its reach in GE15 and the six state elections. This includes the sizeable RM1.9 billion budget for \"Islamic affairs\" and the introduction of the 40 hadith in school, later clarified to be for Muslim students only. Anwar’s move to preside over the conversion of a Hindu man to Islam - in his personal capacity - was celebrated by many Muslim constituents but also offended the Hindu community.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/03ef28501e7a864e28fc88c432d07b1e.jpg","category":"controversial"},{"id":"19","title":"Frog season still on","description":"The PMX’s “unity government” was formed on the basis of ensuring political stability, however, the events of the past year showed anything but.

There was an attempt to oust Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor through defections but that plot fizzled out. Then starting in October, a number of Bersatu MPs engaged in thinly veiled “defections” and aligned themselves with PMX.

Both events showed that under the PMX, and despite the anti-hopping law, respect for the voters' mandate among lawmakers was still not guaranteed.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/4764a3a4610edd04d518df64edae8212.jpg","category":"controversial"},{"id":"20","title":"Which manifesto?","description":"It's hard to keep track of whether the PMX is living up to Harapan's promises now that he's in a unity government of sorts. All the parties in his administration had agreed to a “political monitoring committee” to streamline their manifestos, but nothing has been heard of it since January.

If the PMX is to be truly accountable, he should reveal a checklist - which may be a composite of all his allies' pledges - so that we can evaluate him when his term is up. If not, he is beholden to no one.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/2ba6af634249830478fe8c57572d68f3.jpg","category":"wishlist"},{"id":"21","title":"Flawed electoral system","description":"Let’s face it - the “anti-hopping laws” are not going to work in a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system as MPs can vote across party lines or simply abstain to block a vote that requires two-thirds support.

With a two-thirds majority - ironically created through thinly veiled defections - the PMX administration has an opportunity to replace the FPTP system with a proportional representation system that will kill two birds with one stone.

Firstly, a proportional system will render defections ineffective as the number of MPs held by a party is based on the percentage of votes received. Secondly, such a system will automatically resolve gerrymandering since there will be no need for constituencies.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2022/12/c881837316da96ceabe2bb63308141b3.jpg","category":"wishlist"},{"id":"22","title":"Institutional independence","description":"Anwar, twice convicted and thrice jailed, has long called for reforms in how laws are enforced and how prisoners are treated.

With a two-thirds majority, the PMX administration should have few obstacles to separating the public prosecutor from the attorney-general, giving the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) more bite and providing prison reforms.

Other desirable reforms include removing the power of the prime minister to appoint the MACC and Election Commission chief.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/06/8e62fb1af3cce27b3290b98e4b4432e5.jpg","category":"wishlist"},{"id":"23","title":"Make national education great again","description":"Education is always the largest cut of the budget, but Malaysian students constantly perform below average in the Program for International Student Assessments (Pisa) which evaluates reading, mathematics and science among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, including our neighbours.

This, among others, has prompted many parents to leave the national education system and opt for private schools.

With the national education blueprint expiring in 2025, Anwar has the opportunity to chart the way towards cultivating critical thinkers and a high-functioning knowledge society, so by 2030, public schools will be the first choice again.","img":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/86f85af1680c3cf5aa56c1814cdd0a5f.jpg","category":"wishlist"},{"id":"24","title":"Get on the move","description":"Anwar lives within walking distance from a major bus stop that can bring him to the MRT or downtown KL. It’s time he recognised that most of us don’t have that privilege, which he is unlikely to use.

If the PMX is serious about pursuing net-zero and productivity goals, he should realise that one of the best ways to do that is to remove cars from the road by improving the public transport system, which unfortunately earned a passing one paragraph mention in the Madani Economy document.

We hope that the PMX will come up with a public transport master plan next year that aims to drastically reduce our reliance on private vehicles by 2030.","img":"https://icf.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2021/10/d376b34446e75c9d8a591a53fa2c0a2f.jpg","category":"wishlist"}]}},{"type":"ads","value":"2"},{"type":"sh","value":"What do the experts say?"},{"type":"text","value":"Political analysts have been following the PMX’s first year closely. Two of them - Wong Chin Huat of Sunway University and Syaza Syukri of the International Islamic University Malaysia - believe Anwar’s biggest achievement is staying in power and ensuring no political coups."},{"type":"text","value":"But moving into his second year, there are things they believe he needs to quickly do."},{"type":"blockquote","value":{"title":"Political scientist, Sunway University","cite":"Wong Chin Huat","quote":"First, use his strengthened position to get Perikatan Nasional on the negotiation table for a peace deal. Both his government and Malaysia need true stability based on healthy multiparty competition, not enticing defection.

Second, he needs to be prudent and consultative when introducing new policies or initiatives. His impulsive style in introducing the 40 hadith learning module and the Palestine Solidarity Week has caused unintended consequences that might have been avoided.","src":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2022/05/e0928c4ec41596e8260d4a3c3cb662e0.jpg=s600"}},{"type":"blockquote","value":{"title":"Political scientist, International Islamic University Malaysia","cite":"Syaza Syukri","quote":"The government has not taken full advantage of the supermajority it has to push through reforms before the honeymoon period ends.

The progress that has been made has not been effectively communicated to the masses which puts pressure on the government and increases its risk of losing the next general election.","src":"https://i.newscdn.net/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2023/11/f256dc2deeaf9a6580832933d9f0432c.jpg=s600"}},{"type":"sh","value":"

What do you think?

"},{"type":"text","value":""}]}}

PMX’s year in review

PMX’s

year in review