Najib's checklist

Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's announcement that she will resign from the Cabinet on April 8 is a step forward for one of several outstanding issues that Datuk Seri Najib Razak will hope to address before elections he must call by May next year.

Her resignation, which critics say is long overdue, comes after being dogged by repeated allegations that she and her family abused RM250 million in public funds meant for a national cattle farming scheme. But she insists on continuing as chief of Umno's women's wing, potentially drawing into question the ruling party's commitment to fighting graft.

Prime Minister Najib, who is also Umno president, will have other things on his mind, despite deciding to spend RM6 billion in public sector pay hikes, three times the originally allocated sum.

The 1.4 million-strong civil service railed against an earlier scheme that would see a handful of top civil servants taking home monthly salaries of up to RM80,000 while others received an increment of as little as RM1.70.

Najib has also decided to intervene personally in the controversial rare earths plant that Lynas Corp hopes to put into operation by mid-year.

Despite over a year of protests by local residents in Kuantan and environmentalists over fears of radiation pollution, Putrajaya decided to give the Australian miner a preliminary operating license which is conditional on a suitable waste disposal solution being found.

The prime minister has personally insisted that radioactive waste must be stored "far away" from any residential settlement and giving his word to protect the safety of those living around the plant, just 50km away from his own constituency of Pekan.

His administration's RM500 cash handout to low-income earners, to ease the pressure of rising cost of living, have also boosted his popularity among households earning less than RM3,000, a demographic that makes up 60 per cent of the population.

But the sum will not go far with today's prices, and if Najib wants to call early polls to capitalise on the goodwill he currently has, then the current session of Parliament must see a convincing delivery of democratic reforms he promised in September last year.

He has pledged to repeal the controversial Internal Security Act which provides for detention without trial, reform and improve the electoral system and loosen press regulations.

If the opposition fails to poke any convincing holes in his proposed legislation, then he may well dissolve Parliament in the first half of the year before his ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition is engulfed by further controversies.

Jerome Martin is a political analyst and humourist. Some might say both are the same. But he finds that humour can in fact be used to reveal the truth.