The Malaysian Insider

Analysis by Leslie Lau

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — It is a time-honoured tradition in Malaysian politics for the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government not to allow hard cash in the hands of any opposition state.

And Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s half-hearted move on the Kelantan oil royalty claim is testament to BN’s attitude.

BN’s rule is based on what supporters call “development politics.”

If cash, such as that claimed by PAS for extracting oil in Kelantan, was dispersed to the state government, BN would lose the most significant leverage it has over voters.

The BN federal government says it will pay Kelantan “goodwill payment” for oil extracted in its waters but PAS lawmakers are disputing it, saying it is akin to receiving alms instead of rightful oil royalty.

Najib told Parliament yesterday that Kelantan has no right to claim for royalties from national oil company Petronas since oil was extracted beyond the state’s waters, similar to the situation in Terengganu.

But PAS is arguing that Terengganu has actually been receiving oil royalties and not the “goodwill payment.”

After PAS won Terengganu the federal government did the same thing with the oil-rich neighbour of Kelantan.

Wang Ehsan, similar to the “goodwill payment” being offered now to Kelantan, was distributed via federal government projects in the state.

The PAS state government filed a lawsuit against the federal government but this case is now in the process of being dropped as Terengganu is now under BN control.

BN is not likely to drop its policy of blocking funds from filtering down to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states, especially with the opposition in such a strong position.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has been complaining about this almost from Day One of his administration.

But BN is banking on the fact that few voters realise or are bothered by the fact that state governments have access to very little revenue.

States are largely dependent on federal funds for infrastructure development.

And for PR men like Lim, voters may end up blaming his government for a lack of any initiatives.

Which is the point of controlling the funds.

The message to voters from such policies is clear — vote for BN and life is better.

Such a strategy worked well for BN especially when corruption was kept at a tolerable level and the economy was humming along.

But with corruption reaching an alarming rate and leakages in the economy through poor administration costing the country heavily, the BN government is finding it tough going convincing voters that it can bring them a better life.

This is not to say that the three parties in the PR coalition — PAS, PKR and DAP — can guarantee a better alternative to BN.

So far, PR has not yet made clear to voters what kind of government it can offer if voters send the coalition to Putrajaya.

But its argument has always been that it is not being given a chance to administer states like Penang and Kelantan well because of the BN federal government’s chokehold on funds.

Still, the leaders of PR states should be clear that they should not expect much help from the federal government despite Najib’s proclamation that he was willing to work with them.

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