Malaysia's governing party's poor performance in the recent General Elections held on March 8, 2008, introduces unchartered waters to the private sector with the national coalition losing 5 key states (instead of the usual one) to the keen opposition, Barisan Rakyat.
Barisan Nasional, the governing party, has been criticised to have continuously bred business interest in many different industries in the economy, including the automotive industry, oil & gas, construction and property sectors.
Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) is seen to have caused distress amongst Malaysians due to the continuous price-hikes over the past 4 years, twinned with a continuous boosts in profit figures. As a company fully owned by the government, the opposition coalition has stated in their election manifesto that they would request for transparent financial statements relating to Petronas' financial activities to be sucritinised in Parliament. There has been an irksome worry pertaining the transparency of Petronas' expenditure / allocation of funds. Petronas ranks at number 121 under Fortune Global 500.
Other companies have experienced project delays due to the changes in state governments. The construction sector, in particular, relies on government based projects and due to changes in government personnel and glitches in the handing-over of contracts and related documents, some projects have had to be put on hold.
Norma Kassim, a Business Development Manager for a specialist civil construction company, says her company is still "looking forward to their Letter of Approval [of a project] amidst the changes in state governmental fronts." Her company's project is affected by the change in Kedah's state government; with the main contractor belonging to the state's administrative body.
"Economic activity has slowed down for the time being," she adds, relaying the sensitivity of the current political changes. "I hope it will pick up by the end of the month."
Her concerns are justified. The Australian Business reported a market plunge in Bursa Malaysia due to panic selling and stock-dumping, which led to a temporarily closure of the Bourse on March 10. Prices continued to fall when trading resumed. The index closed at a 9.5% drop. To-date, the market remains bearish over concerns of the political adjustments.
Malaysia's 12th General Elections caused a stir in its political realm as nearly half of the votes favoured the coallition opposition party, denying the government their benchmark two-thirds majority for the first time in Malaysian history. In addition to losing 5 key states to the opposition front, Barisan Nasional suffered a 28% drop in Parliamentary seats and displacement of long-term members of the governing cabinet.
--- Views by Staff Writer Maria Zain
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