Dr M questions BN wisdom after 17,000 spurns BR1M
(MM) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad cautioned the Barisan Nasional (BN) today against banking on the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) programme to shore up voter support, after 17,000 Malaysians rejected the government’s third annual cash handout.
The former prime minister advised politicians in the ruling coalition against mistaking the warning message from the masses that turned down the financial aid programme, alluding to Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah’s recent comment that it signalled a growing “maturity” among Malaysians.
“Failure to understand public sentiments would be disastrous for politicians. Self-delusion is even worse,” Dr Mahathir said in his latest entry on his chedet.cc blog.
The 88-year-old, who also held the financial portfolio during the latter stage of his 33-year administration, has been a vocal critic of BR1M since its inception.
He had previously warned the Najib adminstration that the cash handouts posed a serious threat to government spending, digging into federal coffers amid the belt-tightening exercise and potentially driving up dependency on a populace suckled on subsidies.
In a reminder today, he said the previous BR1M drive that saw seven million low-income Malaysians received RM500 each had cost the government RM3.5 billion.
The latest round, which has been increased to RM1,200 per person would set the government back by RM8.4 billion, he said.
“That is a lot of money. Yet there is still a lot of very poor people in the country,” Dr Mahathir observed.
“Do we really need BRIM,” he asked, and added, “Even without BRIM there was good support by the people. If they do not support it must be because they are not happy with something, maybe even with BRIM.”
He noted that the latest BR1M exercise was given out ahead of the March 23 Kajang by-election, and shared that “a few people said to me that BRIM is bribe especially when given just before elections”.
He urged the BN not to mistake the rejection as proof that Malaysians were more mature and were weaned of their subsistence habit, warning that public sentiment is better expressed at the ballot box.
Despite the government’s generosity towards low-income households amid soaring living costs, a recent university survey showed only 33 per cent of Kajang voters likely to be persuaded to support the BN.
The Universiti Malaya Centre for Elections and Democracy (Umcedel) survey released on February 20 showed that money matters weighed heavily on voters across all income levels, with 69 per cent of 576 Kajang voters saying price hikes would influence more people to support the Pakatan Rakyat federal opposition.
