Wee takes govt to task for unfulfilled election promises

DATUK Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong lambasted the Pakatan Harapan government for failing to fulfil its election pledges.

“In 2013, they promised to give free education and in the 14th General Election, they pledged to let borrowers make repayment if their salary reached RM4,000.

“What has happened to their promises?” asked the Ayer Hitam MP.

Dr Wee, who is also MCA president, was echoing Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin’s disappointment with Pakatan’s failure to fulfil its promise to postpone repayment for PTPTN borrowers until their monthly salary reached at least RM4,000.

Khairy had expressed his disappointment when debating the 2019 Budget yesterday. He said the budget had failed to protect marginalised group, including the bottom 40% (B40) of the population.

Khairy, who is holding the shadow Finance Ministry portfolio, asked the government why it did not give special emphasis to such groups who are struggling with the high cost of living.

“Under the 2019 Budget, we thought it would be a Budget for the rakyat, to uplift the poor.

“However, what we see is a Budget of a free market, a Budget for the rich and a Budget that privatises all aspects. The Budget has forgotten all the important segments. How can they forget the plight of the fishermen and farmers, especially during this rainy season?” asked the former Youth and Sports Minister.

Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) interjected, saying the government had forgotten the group because “there are no poor people in Damansara, just the rich”.

Khairy continued, saying “power had inflated their egos” and caused them to neglect the lower income groups.

“They could not even fulfil their election manifesto and the Budget is supposed to cover up their failure. But when they tabled it, they forgot about the plight of the poor,” he said.

Khairy labelled the 2019 Budget as a mere “copy paste, rebranding and continuation of Barisan Nasional’s previous initiatives”.

He also took a swipe at the Bantuan Sara Hidup, which is similar to the 1Malaysia People’s Aid introduced by the Barisan government.

“Unfortunately, it has been reduced to between RM500 to RM1,500,” said Khairy.