BN Gomen and Petronas, LOWER OIL PRICE AT THE PUMP!

Damn it, nobody seems to get it, or the BN government pretends NOT to get it. Petronas remains elegantly silent.

Let Desi repaet his main premises that the Government should in fact be reducing oil prices at the pump. This talk about "rising subsidies" is just HALF THE STORY as I argued inmy post yesterday...:(

IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE WORLD OIL PRICES KEEPS GOING UP, MALAYSIA BENEFITS THROUGH HIGHER REVENUES AND PROFITS VIA PETRONAS.

THE GOVERNMENT REMAINS COY ABOUT THIS FACT ALONE -- THAT MALAYSIA IS A NETT PRODUCER AND A NETT EXPORTER OF PETROLEUM. FURTHERMORE, MALAYISA'S CRUDES ARE OF HIGHER GRADE, AND HENCE COMMAND A PRICE PREMIUM OVER ITS OIL IMPORTS.

BOTH THESE FACTORS MEAN THE NATION HAS BEEN ENJOYING A WINDFALL FROM RISING WORLD OIL PRICES THE PAST FIVE YEARS! But the greAt Najib regime thinks the Rakyat owe him a great gratitude now that he has kindly "handbraked" on raising oil prices, especially that of RON95. His ministers had been hinted at such a price increase,and "Hail to the Fire Chief-cum-PM, he come thin like knight-in-shiny-armour to decide there will be a hold on any price rise, FOR THE MOMENT!" as decided at the Cabinet meeting yesterday.

I sighted a news report at "Malaysians Must Know the TRUTH" and will comment on it later.~~ YL, Desi


Wednesday, May 25, 2011
BN can still survive fuel price hike

Analysts believe any increase in the price of RON95 may have an impact on the coming general election but it will not lead to the downfall of the BN.

KUALA LUMPUR: Any move to raise the price of RON95 petrol or increase the power tariff would dent Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s hope of a stronger electoral mandate but will not be strong enough to unseat his ruling coalition, analysts say.

Barisan Nasional (BN) could also scrape through the 13th general election, tipped to be held year-end, unscathed by its unpopular subsidy rationalisation policy if the increase in RON95 or power tariff is kept minimal.

“You have to wait and see to what extent it would be raised. If the increase is marginal, the public would complain but it won’t be too much,” Ibrahim Suffian, director of independent research and polling house Merdeka Centre, told FMT.

The RON95 price has been raised twice since Najib took office in April 2009, but the increases were relatively low enough to avoid any voter backlash, said Ibrahim.

The sharp rise in global oil price following the Arab and North African unrest, however, has forced the government to reconsider its subsidy policy on RON95.

The Najib administration is expected to spend RM18 billion, or RM10 billion more than 2010, to foot the subsidy bill this year amid stringent efforts to reduce its record-high public debt.

Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said yesterday that the government will not increase the prices of RON95, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) but did not specify how long the Najib administration would maintain current prices.

BN in a fix

Najib’s government has already announced the removal of the super subsidy for diesel for nine categories of key commercial vehicles effective June 1, a move that will force consumers to bear the brunt.

AmResearch had predicted that RON95 will increase by 20 sen or to RM2.10 from the current RM1.90 per litre as early as next month.

Ibrahim noted that an increase of 20 sen a litre would affect BN’s electoral performance severely, given that voters are already struggling to cope with high food prices. This would worsen when the super subsidy cut on diesel takes place in a week’s time.

He said that BN is now in a fix. “I believe that while it won’t raise the price of RON95, the opposition is ready to use the 13th general election as a referendum against the BN, especially on the subsidy policies.”

Pakatan Rakyat claimed that subsidy cuts are unnecessary and that there are plenty of alternatives to reduce Malaysia’s deficit like trimming bloating government operating expenditures and tightening fiscal discipline.

The opposition bloc claimed it will not remove subsidies in its alternative policy, saying it is workable if the cuts are compensated through prioritised spending and transparent governance.

Leaders from within the government and Najib’s own party like Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin have voiced similar opinion on the matter.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaya (UKM) political analyst Professor Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff believes that any significant increase in fuel price would erode the support even of the majority Malays.

Public anger

With non-Malay support towards BN steadily declining, Najib’s Umno is betting on the popular notion that the majority of the Malays would remain either sympathetic or staunch Umno backers. But this will be shaken by any plan to remove subsidies on basic goods.

“The Malays in the rural areas will be affected,” Agus told FMT, referring to Umno’s power base. “When it comes to price hikes, public anger would transcend race,” he added.

The UKM lecturer pointed that the government would also lose significant support from the fence- sitters but noted that fuel price hike alone would not pave the way for the rise of a new government.

“There are many other factors like loyalty and unity within the ruling coalition, candidates and media warfare before you consider the prospect of a BN’s fall,” he said.

BN, then under Najib’s predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, recorded its worst electoral performance in four decades at the 2008 national polls. The ruling coalition maintained its rule with a simple majority and lost five states.

One of the major factors behind the dismal BN performance was public anger towards the rise of fuel price at the time, according to a Bloomberg report.

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said, however, she is confident that the country can withstand increases in fuel prices due to a stronger economy than that of 2008.
Posted by Malaysians Must Know the TRUTH