Get real, Vision 2020 not possible, minister tells Dr Mahathir

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad must face reality and realise that Vision 2020 is no longer achievable, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak. He said this in response to Dr Mahathir's remark on his blog yesterday, where the former prime minister said Malaysia was no longer admired as it was before and that no one had doubted then the intention to become a developed nation by 2020. But Salleh, in a blog posting today, said the former prime minister now appeared to be trying to shift the blame onto others. On Vision 2020, he said Dr Mahathir failed to consider the financial crises when he came up with the idea, adding that such missteps has rendered the plan no longer possible. "Dr Mahathir did not take that possibility into calculation and a decade later in 1997, it happened yet again... It was a plan mooted under an ideal situation but 1986 and 1997 proved that there is no such thing as an ideal situation. "So Wawasan (Vision) 2020 was no longer possible. So he wants to find someone to blame rather than accept the fact that he was wrong and the plan was not really workable," he said. He added that Dr Mahathir's remark – that no one doubted that its announced intention to become a developed country by 2020 would be achieved – was merely an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for its failure and to shift the failure to someone else. Salleh said Dr Mahathir overlooked a crucial point when he decided to change the country's direction from a commodity-based economy to a heavy-industry based economy in achieving a developed nation in 2020. "And that crucial point is that Malaysia does not have expertise in research and development that the other industrialised countries possess. "So it was an impossible dream if all Malaysia can become is what we would call a bolt-and-nut operation.” he said. As for world’s admiration on Malaysia, Salleh cited Dr Mahathir’s leadership, where the former prime minister quarrelled with other world leaders, namely then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and then United States President Bill Clinton. "Most Malaysians were embarrassed by those events," he said. In his blog yesterday, Dr Mahathir also slammed Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali over his "no further action" decision against the prime minister, saying the finding was meaningless as Apandi had no credibility. He said Najib should resign in order for Malaysia to regain its reputation. – February 6, 2016.