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Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said today Malaysia was losing out economically to regional rivals because of long-running policies favouring ethnic Malays.He said Malaysia's ability to attract foreign investment had been compromised by keeping the country's affirmative action policies in favour of the Malay majority.
"That policy is obsolete... We are losing our competitiveness. Malaysia is less competitive than the 1990s," Anwar, whose PKR party is formally led by his wife, told reporters in Hong Kong.
"Foreign investments, we have lost. Growth, we have lost. Attractiveness, which is key to an emerging market, is lost. Not to China and India, but to Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia because of our obsolete policies.
"If you persist in pursuing this agenda, you do it not only at the expense of the Chinese and the Indians, but also of the Malays."
Malaysia has pursued the policies for Malays and indigenous groups known as bumiputras since the 1970s to close a wealth gap with the minority Chinese community.
In recent months, the government has been shaken by rare public demonstrations which erupted last November, including against alleged discrimination against the country's ethnic Indians.
Religious controversies
Anwar added that Malaysia's creeping 'Islamisation' was also turning away foreign investors.
Malaysia has experienced a string of religious controversies in recent months.
A Catholic newspaper was banned from using the word 'Allah', in its Malay language section, while a Hindu woman lost her bid to stop the conversion of her child to Islam after Malaysia's highest court ruled that her now-Muslim husband can convert their elder son.
Anwar was sacked from the former government of Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998 after being jailed for six years following sodomy and corruption charges.
The sodomy charge was later overturned and Anwar was released but he is barred from public office or holding any position with a political party until April because of the corruption conviction.
Anwar added that an upcoming election, expected to be held in March, would be crucial in determining Malaysia's future.
"Given free and fair elections, these elections will be a defining moment for the country," said Anwar, at a press conference organised by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission.
He added he thought his opposition PKR party would damage Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's Umno in the vote.
Anwar said about 20 potential legislators running for his party were prepared to stand down once he is able to take part in a by-election after his ban expires.
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