They told FMT the ruling coalition was fast overusing the excuse that the fugitive businessman, better known as Jho Low, had allegedly stolen money from the government to explain why it could not immediately fulfil all of its promises.
“People will no longer accept the excuse by next year,” said James Chin, who heads the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute.
“To use the Jho Low excuse over and over again is stretching it too far,” said Azmi Hassan of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Perdana School.
Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said PH’s harping on the Jho Low factor made it appear to the public as a government lacking in political wisdom.
Last Sunday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told a crowd in Kota Kinabalu that Putrajaya could not yet fulfil its promise to pay Sabah 40% of revenues derived from the state, but would do so when the country’s financial situation had improved.
He attributed the bad financial position to “various scandals” associated with the previous administration, including the 1MDB scandal. “1MDB caused Malaysia to lose RM50 billion,” he said. “All this money, Jho Low has taken.”
The statement came less than a month after he blamed Jho Low for PH’s inability to keep its promise to allow borrowers from the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) to delay repayment until they start earning RM4,000 per month.
“If Jho Low had not taken away RM50 billion,” he said, the government would not have had to insist on repayment from those already earning RM1,000 a month.
Chin said PH was “fast running out of time” and must realise that it could not indefinitely try to hide its weaknesses by citing the misdeeds of the previous administration and people associated with it.
“After all,” he said, “that is why we had a regime change. We got rid of the former prime minister and his gang so that the new group can correct the past mistakes.
“I think most Malaysians are willing to let the government settle down during its honeymoon year, but it cannot be forever.”
Chin added that PH could not make political gain for long from demonising Jho Low unless it succeeded in arresting him and putting him on trial to expose his alleged wrongdoings.
Azmi said the “Jho Low excuse” had some validity, but he added that the businessman was not the only person to blame for the country’s financial troubles. “The debt issue, for instance, goes beyond what Jho Low did.”
He said fulfilling all of PH’s promises would have been a financial burden on the country even without the Jho Low factor.
“I consider the PH government brave when it faced this issue head-on and braver still when it admitted that research was not thoroughly done when its election manifesto was crafted,” he said, citing as examples the promises on oil royalties and the abolition of highway tolls.
Awang Azman said PH leaders should sharpen their focus on fulfilling all of the coalition’s promises, as advised by Daim Zainuddin, chairman of the Council of Eminent Persons.
“It’s no longer relevant to be harping on Jho Low,” he said. “It’s not wise to blame him for your inability to tackle the PTPTN issue and the issue of a 40% return of income from Sabah.
“If Barisan Nasional could handle the PTPTN issue and negotiate with the Sabah state government to the point that the 40% revenue issue was never raised in the first place, then PH can surely do better.
“Delaying solutions on these issues will influence voters’ perception in GE15. Their confidence in PH will be eroded.”
He said PH would have to be more innovative in solving economic issues.
However, analyst Oh Ei Sun of the Pacific Research Centre said he believed non-Malays would continue to “solidly support PH”.
He said the issue of fulfilment of promises would be relevant if PH was worried about losing its 25% share of the Malay vote.