Anwar will find the going much harder after initial spate of reforms

TO HIS credit, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s first 100 days in office have been marked by several broad and tangible changes to the system of governance. He has done away with the hoary practice of procurement approvals without open tenders, ended political appointments to government-linked companies, and slashed – by almost 75 per cent – the constituency development funds which Members of Parliament used to dole out in an institutionalised system of patronage.

To promote routine scrutiny, he has introduced the Prime Minister’s Question Time every Tuesday and a separate Ministerial Question Time every Thursday. Now every member of the cabinet will have to field the opposition’s questions directly. Mistakes and omissions will be shown up.

This should go some way toward improving standards of governance. In turn, the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition has formed the country’s first shadow cabinet.