JOHOR BARU: A government of bandits is what Malaysians can expect should Pakatan Rakyat implement the strategies outlined by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad.

Shahrir characterised the Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser's suggestions, which were made during the recent televised debate, as robbing corporate giants, saying that it would destroy the economy in the long run.

Anwar had suggested that the petrol price could be reduced by up to 50 sen if the government forked out RM5 billion.

Anwar said the government could set aside the RM5 billion by taking RM1 billion from the Petronas special dividend fund and by asking Tenaga Nasional Berhad to reduce its standby capacity.

This second method, Anwar argued, would reduce power purchases from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and save the government another RM2 billion.
Shahrir said the proposal was clearly anti-business as Anwar was forcing these companies to hand over their profits to the government. Anwar's strategy also contradicted what he said in a keynote address on the New Economic Agenda at the CLSA Corporate Access Forum in Singapore in May, where he advocated a pro-business policy, Shahrir said.

"That is called robbery. The government earns its income from taxation and we have already imposed a windfall levy on IPPs. The government cannot simply poach from corporations."

Shahrir said it was impossible to get RM5 billion every year to keep oil prices down when the world price for fuel continued to rise.

"Pakatan Rakyat MPs had not brought this matter up in the Dewan Rakyat, so this could be just one of Anwar's ploys to gain popularity.

"If Pakatan was really serious about overcoming inflation and helping people from the lower income bracket they would fight for lower diesel prices, not low petrol prices," Shahrir said after a meeting with Umno branch heads at the Johor Baru Umno division office here yesterday.

This is since diesel is directly linked with the cost of logistics, public transport and power production which dictated the inflation rate, which in turn directly affected consumers.

"Clearly at the televised debate and earlier during the PKR election campaigns, he was speaking about taking corporate money to subsidise petrol."

Shahrir also announced that his ministry would meet oil companies Exxon Mobil, BHp, Shell, Caltex and Petronas next week to discuss the implementation of two-tier pricing system for petrol.

"We would like to know the technical issues involved and the reasons for the delay in introducing the pumps at border towns."

He said two-tier pricing system for petrol was successfully carried out in Brunei and Indonesia.

Shahrir said the system should benefit both consumers and petrol stations while at the same time local consumers would be able to compare the subsidised price they are enjoying with what the foreigners are paying.

In June, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had announced that the government would implement a two-tier pricing for local and foreign vehicles at border towns.