‘PH TO FIX BN DAMAGE’
Administration machinery, country’s financial position to be restored, says Dr M
THE Pakatan Harapan government will focus on repairing the damage in the administration machinery and improving the country’s financial position, which is hampered by huge debts, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday.
In a dialogue session with almost 200 Malaysians in the United Kingdom on Sunday, Dr Mahathir said the damage to the country’s finance and administration machinery caused by the previous administration could have destroyed Malaysia, had the same party won the 14th General Election.
“(Malaysia) would be a land colonised by others. We would lose power in our country. The people gave support to PH to topple the Barisan Nasional government as the latter did not focus on the country’s wellbeing and development, as well as the problems of the people .”
Dr Mahathir said the country’s administration was badly damaged as corruption permeated the highest to the lowest levels.
He said the administration machinery sided with the then-ruling party and was campaigning directly and openly to help BN, even though it should have been politically neutral.
“Their loyalty was not only to the administrators, but also to the ruling party.”
On restoring the country’s financial position, Dr Mahathir said it was important to carry it out, even if the government was forced to sell assets to obtain funds to pay its debts.
He said the previous government owed RM1 trillion and the debts had to be paid to avoid bankcruptcy.
“We have lost the borrowed money. We do not know where it has gone to, so we do not have money to settle the debts.”
He said the budget was usually in deficit, as revenue was not sufficient to settle the debts. Funds were insufficient to finance government expenditure to administer, as well as for development, including providing scholarships for students, he added.
“Many improvements need to be made. If given time, the (government) will overcome the problems.”
Dr Mahathir hoped scholarship holders would finish their studies swiftly, like former prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who completed his studies in two years, compared with the usual duration of three years.
“If we can reduce the time, we could then go home and serve.”
On the proposed third national car, he said it would give the country the opportunity to be involved in engineering.
He said building a car that needed 4,000 parts was not easy.
Through the manufacturing of cars, he said, the country could master engineering, which would bring development in manufacturing, as well as various engineering skills and knowledge.
“It is not just about the car, but the engineering possibilities which can lead to the stimulation of other economic areas.”
He quashed suggestions that Proton was a failure because when it was “under a good management”, the national car maker was able to accumulate RM4 billion in reserves and build a plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak, with its own money, without asking for government assistance or borrowing from a bank.
He said Proton was a success until it was decided that foreign cars could come into Malaysia unrestricted, but Malaysia could not sell its cars in foreign countries as they imposed conditions of sale.
“It’s all about importing their cars, not exporting ours. If you don’t export your cars, you don’t earn foreign exchange. If you keep buying foreign cars, then you will lose a lot of money every year.”
He said the government would have to ask the private sector to take the lead on the third national car project, as the government did not have the money to fund it.
The meeting was organised by the UK Bunga Raya Club, which was set up in 2016 to support Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s aspirations.