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PETALING JAYA: The current generation of government ministers is not “working” and has little understanding of what the people and the country need, says former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
In the second part of a special interview with FMT, Mahathir also said that the administration led by Perikatan Nasional “is not working.”
“(The current leaders) are not very impressive, I must say,” he said. “The ministers seem not to be working at all. We don’t see them doing anything and we know that the ministers refuse to see the people. “
He said the cabinet did not understand what the people need, the feelings of the public and what they, as leaders, can do to bring about change.
“Even the prime minister is a hard man to see. When I was prime minister, I saw at least three to four delegations a day. I talked to them, I knew what they were thinking and I listened to what was being discussed in public so I could make adjustments. “
“But here, they may have some advisers, but apparently they are not giving the proper advice.”
He said that while some inactivity can be attributed to the Covid-19 movement restrictions, “the level of service that the government offers today is below average.”
Furthermore, he believes that this lack of productivity goes against the government’s efforts to revive an economy devastated by the pandemic.
“For example, ministers refuse to see investors, they refuse to see anyone… and when you refuse to see them, people will consider you hostile.
“During my time, I presented a pro-business government, so despite the racial economic divide, we were growing at 7% (one year).”
He said that “today’s government is not working,” adding that this, along with poor governance and corruption, was one of the main reasons Malaysia has struggled to attract foreign investment.
The United Nations’ trade agency, UNCTAD, said foreign investment in Malaysia had fallen 68% to $ 2.5 billion in 2020, a much larger drop than the 31% drop experienced by Southeast Asia as a whole.
