Daim: PH govt takes care of all
KUALA LUMPUR: The Pakatan Harapan government, under the leadership of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will continue to safeguard Malay and Bumiputera interests while taking care of the welfare of marginalised groups.
“People of all races, be they Malays, Chinese, Indians, as well as those from Sabah and Sarawak, voted the new government in, so we have got to be fair to them,” former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin said during an exclusive interview with Bernama News Channel BNC and Bernama Economic Service BES yesterday.
“In no way will measures to address issues and reforms pertaining to economic and financial manage- ment of the country jeopardise any group as enshrined under the Constitution,” said Daim, who heads the Council of Eminent Persons set up to advise the new government for the first 100 days.
“The whole idea of the council comprising eminent persons tasked with advising the government on economic and financial issues is to ensure justice for everybody. We will safeguard the Constitution.”
The council comprises Daim, former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, former Petronas chief executive officer Tan Sri Hassan Marican, tycoon Robert Kuok and economist Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
Daim said the issue was not so much of ensuring equality, but rather addressing “inequality”, which was prevalent under the last administration.
“There was a lot of inequality among the Malays due to cronyism, and we are not in favour of Umno crony companies, while the Indians were also marginalised.”
He said it was not right to stereotype urban Chinese as rich as many struggled to make a living due to rising cost of living.
“Once you address inequalities, everybody will be happy,” he said, adding that the government’s role was to be fair to everybody and take care of their welfare.
“We have to take care of poor Malays, Chinese, Indians and others, as well as those from Sabah and Sarawak. The rich can take care of themselves.”