KUCHING: Pakatan Harapan’s lacklustre inaugural year in office continues to be defined by U-turns and unfulfilled election promises, said Bintulu MP Datuk Sri Tiong King Sing.
He singled out state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen for continuing to paint a rosy picture of the under-performing economy in the state since Pakatan Harapan (PH) started governing last May.
“Their only ammunition is talking about saving the country from bankruptcy by dragging BN leaders through the court system; harping on about the RM1-trillion national debt and their institutional reforms. But all these so-called achievements do not explain their excuses for inconsequential policies,” Tiong said in a statement Tuesday.
Tiong referred to international reports that Malaysia’s economy has taken a beating as global funds bypass the country, which is a sign of lower confidence that the federal government’s intended reforms would materialise.
In a sign of a slowing economy, Bank Negara last week cut the overnight policy (OPR) rate for the first time since July 2016, to brace against downside risks from dampened global growth and weakness in the commodity-led industrial sectors.
Tiong said most of PH’s implemented policies were either U-turns or populist in nature serving as a smokescreen for other let-downs.
“Starting a third national car project, congestion charge for tolled highways, salary deductions for higher education loan repayments, turning the GST into SST, abolishing lower primary school examination – these are the sum of PH’s achievements,” he said.
He went on to demand that the PH government showed where the federal development allocations for Sarawak were placed.
“The PH Finance Minister claims that Sarawak receives the largest amount of funding, but where are these funds?” he asked, adding that Sabah, which is a PH-led state, had clearly been given the lion’s share of development funding compared to Sarawak.
“Sarawak has been vexed by the federal government, with a large reduction in funding and stagnant development.
“On the contrary, it has made a big show of a RM2.28 billion development grant to Sabah in the Sandakan by-election.”
He said instead the state PH had busied itself with denouncing the performances of past BN leaders but taking the credit for positive policy outcomes implemented previously under BN administration.
He also took Chong, who is the federal Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs deputy minister, to task for distorting the debate on the Malaysia Agreement (MA63) and taking credit from Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s efforts in this area.
“Chong keeps claiming that the PH is the best thing for the people of Sarawak. Yet, he had agreed to GPS’ original proposal to set up a parliamentary select committee to discuss the constitutional amendment
Tiong also pointed out that the PH government had neglected much of what was promised before it took federal power.
“Increasing the development in the state, providing petrol subsidies, lowering the fuel prices, Chong should only boast of the PH’s achievement after these promises are fulfilled,” he said.
