‘Maniacs and clowns’ in Malaysian officialdom
This is why we’re the world’s laughing stock, says a political analyst.
GOMBAK: The international community regards Malaysian politics as immature because our officialdom is full of “maniacs, jokers and clowns,” according to political analyst Maszlee Malik.
Speaking to FMT, he said the immaturity of politicians and the way they were appointed to leadership positions had made Malaysia the “laughing stock of the world.”
“Don’t talk about auctioning off our country through the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement ,” he said. “It’s the current political situation that is auctioning off our country, and this happens when you put those maniacs, jokers and clowns in the administration and in political positions.”
Maszlee is a lecturer at the International Islamic University and a senior fellow of the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs.
He said many Malaysian politicians were appointed to leadership positions through “excessive politicking” and the nation was thereby saddled with leaders without enough wisdom to produce good political ideas.
“This was how people like Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, Ahmad Maslan and Ismail Sabri became ministers,” he said. “These are all cartoons.
“New Zealand’s newscasters laughed when reading the news on diplomat Rizalman Ismail. How did he even become a diplomat? This is the issue.”
To turn things around, he said, a drastic approach needed to be taken.
“When the tree is damaged, we have to replace it with a new one. We have to take it out by the roots and replace it with a new tree.
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“Yes, eventually that new tree will be damaged too, but by that time, we’ll be intelligent enough to tackle the problem and know which fertiliser to use.”