COMMENT | Save the country, choose the right PM

COMMENT | The 15th general election (GE15) is being called one year early. It is called during the monsoon season. We should ask the question why the urgency?

We have had three prime ministers in the last four years. Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (paraphrasing the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein) has said GE15 is the ‘mother of all elections’.

The future of our country may well depend on the outcome of GE15. Not, however, for the reasons Zahid has given.

Malaysia is a beautiful country and could be a great nation. However, we are trailing other countries in the region.

Our national debt exceeds RM1 trillion and our household debt also exceeds the same figure. Poverty levels exceed 15 percent of Malaysian households.

And we are heavily reliant on oil and gas, a depleting asset. Malaysia is also reliant on cheap foreign labour which depresses wages for our own people. The future looks bleak.

What has brought us to this state and what is holding us back from becoming a developed country?

The answer seems obvious. Corruption is holding us back. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said it all during the campaign in the last general election.

In fact, he is still saying it...