KUALA LUMPUR: Sterner tests await Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's government this year, says Umno's Shahril Hamdan.

But Shahril, in a commentary published on the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) website, said 2024 also presents opportunities for the unity government to live up to expectations especially where reforms are concerned.

"The opposition does not have an alternative set of policies as yet. Elections are several years away. Residual goodwill still exists, although fast dissipating."

"As the central bank governor remarked, there is now a window to enact structural reforms. That window may not last long."

Shahril, a visiting fellow at the Malaysia Programme at RSIS, said some reforms, like the introduction of the capital gains tax, were easier to implement than others.

"On more contentious issues that may invite scrutiny from larger segments of the population, or where there is a political price to pay, things get a bit murky."

He cited the example of the collapse of a RM1.15 billion planned takeover of Boustead Plantations Bhd by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd and the confusion over the Madani Rice initiative.

Shahril said moving forward, the government will face "sterner tests" of its resolve and operational competence.

"(This includes) plans for fuel subsidy rationalisation to free up fiscal space and channel more productive spending and investments."

Shahril also said that 2023 was a big year for Anwar's administration citing the launch of several bold and ambitious policies, including the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the New Industrial Masterplan.

"There are also big ideas for a progressive wage model and a special economic zone (SEZ) with Singapore."

He said the real test for the government, as with any previous administrations' blueprints, was in the implementation.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/03/1031559/sterner-tests-await-anwars-government-says-shahril-hamdan