Malaysia’s Abdullah targets inflation and crime

Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia’s prime minister, has identified inflation and crime as key issues in the general election that he is expected to call by March.

Mr Abdullah warned that the National Front ruling coalition was unlikely to repeat the landslide victory that he achieved in 2004, shortly after becoming prime minister.

Speaking to reporters after addressing leaders of the United Malays National Organisation, the dominant party in the coalition, Mr Abdullah said those results “were exceptional”. Asked if the National Front could repeat its 2004 victory, he said: “I don’t think so. If I get [a repeat], I will be very happy. I am being very, very practical.”

Mr Abdullah has been preparing to go to the polls in the last few months to take advantage of the country’s strong economic growth of nearly 6 per cent.

His election plans, however, have been overshadowed recently by rare street protests against allegedly unfair election laws and discrimination suffered by the ethnic Indian minority.

“It is too late to stop the election from going ahead since a lot of preparations on the ground have already taken place,” said one consultant to the government.

Before the past week’s ­global financial turbulence, the Kuala Lumpur stock market had risen to a record high on expectations of ­government pump-priming measures in relation to the election.

In addition, Mr Abdullah has proposed five special economic zones in key parts of the country to boost growth.

But there has been growing public discontent over rising prices for food and other household items. Although some are subject to official price controls, there have been recent shortages as people have hoarded cooking oil and other goods in expectation of price increases.

Government advisers concede that Mr Abdullah wants to call an early election – a poll is not constitutionally due until 2009 – because he wants to get the polls out of the way before cutting fuel subsidies. These subsidies threaten to undermine government efforts to reduce its large budget deficit as global oil prices rise.

On the social front, Malaysia is experiencing a sharp rise in crime rates in spite of its general economic prosperity. The government recently reported that serious crimes rose by 13 per cent last year. Malaysians have blamed the country’s large pool of foreign workers for the crime wave, although official statistics revealed foreigners account for only a small percentage of crime.

The government won 196 of the 219 parliamentary seats in the 2004 elections, its best performance since independence in 1957. In spite of Mr Abdullah’s warnings, the National Front is expected to retain at least a two-thirds parliamentary majority.