KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan's alternative budget clearly shows it was done haphazardly and without any serious thought put to it.
MIC Treasurer-General Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari said the promise of Pakatan Harapan to abolish the Goods and Services Tax (GST) if it wins in the next general election, does not make sense.
This was because the GST contributes approximately RM 42 billion to the government and by eliminating the GST, the government loses a very important revenue stream, he said.
“To replace GST with SST also does not make sense as most countries around the world (168 countries and counting) had changed from SST to GST while Pakatan Harapan is regressing backwards by going back to SST with a lower revenue for the government,” he said.
Vell Paari added that the promise to abolish all tolls in this country also did not make sense and was done merely to woo the rakyat to vote for the Opposition in the coming general election.
He cited Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) and Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor (KPS) Berhad owning a 30 per cent stake in Syarikat Konsesi Lebuhraya Kesas and 20 per cent in Syarikat Konsesi Lebuhraya Sprint, respectively as a case in point.
“If Pakatan Harapan is really serious and against having toll roads in this country, they should first relinquish their stakes in these two highways instead of profiting from it. Why have they not done so?”
Vell Paari also said the opposition pact’s promise to provide free education was also shallow and referred to Universiti Selangor (UNISEL), owned by the Selangor government.
“If Pakatan Harapan is really serious about providing free education, why have they not started providing free education in UNISEL?
“Pakatan Harapan should walk the talk by providing free education in their state first before trying to hoodwink the rakyat,” he said.
Vell Paari believes that the Alternative Budget produced by Pakatan Harapan is irresponsible, unsustainable, and definitely populist.
“In short it is an election budget without taking into consideration the economic realities of the world economy and was done just to woo voters for the coming general election.
“The populist budget from Pakatan Harapan is just to gain support from the rakyat and they know that their budget is not sustainable,” he said.