PUTRAJAYA, March 1 ― Pro-Bumiputera Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) new recruit Wan Saiful Wan Jan conceded today that affirmative action is a political reality, but cautioned that it must not last forever.
The former chief of libertarian think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), who had previously warned against affirmative action, said there is a need to remain fighting for the wellbeing of Malays to ensure the entire nation benefits from their economic prosperity.
“The reality of Malaysian political system is affirmative action is needed today. However, It must be framed and evaluated in the right way and it must be seen as a program that will help to improve the livelihood of people,” he told Malay Mail after officially joining the party.
“Affirmative action also should not last forever.
“It must be to the extent where we have a proud Malay population that can stand on its own and state they want affirmative action to be removed,’’ he added.
Wan Saiful, who was appointed deputy chairman of PPBM’s policy and strategy bureau, however, reiterated that his stance on affirmative action has not changed and insisted that the pro-Bumiputera policies have allegedly been abused.
“The way affirmative action policies are done today is in such a way, it is linked to political subservience, which was not the real intention.
“Now it is being presented in a way that it must stay on forever and because it is, you are indebted to Umno, which is clearly wrong,’’ Wan Saiful claimed.
In the past, both Wan Saiful and IDEAS had criticised the 2013’s New Economic Model, and its predecessor, the now-defunct New Economic Policy that was introduced in 1971.
Last year, they had also called for a clear end date for the second edition of the Bumiputera Economic Transformation Roadmap, then a new government programme aimed at improving the Bumiputera community’s income and wellbeing.
Wan Saiful admitted that being actively involved in politics is a different experience compared to someone looking in from the outside.
“It will be a steep learning curve for me. It doesn’t matter what I believe in if I want to solve the problem of today it must be a solution based on today,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, his bureau’s chairman Datuk Rais Hussin said he is ecstatic to welcome Wan Saiful into the party, explaining the latter would help navigate the party’s policy direction.
Rais also said Wan Saiful would be appointed as PPBM’s supreme council member to replace the seat vacated by former member Kamarulazman Habibur Rahman and Anina Saadudin last year.
