PM: Beware of Pakatan, the pied piper
The prime minister says the opposition is only clever at promising the world, the moon and even the universe.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak warned voters against supporting the opposition, saying this will derail efforts to make Malaysia a “high income” economy.
Najib claimed his government had surpassed all key targets set under Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and is on “the right trajectory” to achieve its 2020 goals.
But he said the success would be ruined by the populist “promises” made by Pakatan Rakyat which is only interested in power by offering voters “sweet” but detrimental policies.
“So beware the actor, the pied piper, who is only good at promising you the world, the moon and even the universe. It is only clever at making promises but has complete disregard for the repercussions,” he said at the unveiling of the ETP and GTP annual report here.
According to Pemandu, the body tasked with spearheading the GTP and ETP, the government has exceeded its 2011 economic targets just a year after the programme was implemented.
The group claimed all the 12 National Key Economic Areas “achieved 23% above the set Key Performance Indicators (KPI)”.
Continued subsidies
The timing of the report’s release and Najib’s boast of its successes come amid intense speculation that the general election will likely be held in the second quarter of the year.
Subsidies will be among the key issues influencing voting and Najib promised today that his government will continue with its hefty subsidy programme, which is costing the country RM30 billion annually.
“The government is committed to continuing the policy of selected subsidies involving food such as rice, sugar, cooking oil and flour, petroleum products, and including petrol, diesel and cooking gas,” he said.
Najib had already drafted a “rationalisation” plan to dismantle its costly subsidy programme two years ago while Pemandu’s chief executive Idris Jala said the country would fold if the subsidy regime continued.
He reiterated last Friday that the government will go ahead with plans to trim its subsidy spending.
But Najib said today the government had made it top priority to tackle the rising cost of living in what was seen as an election push.
