The rakyat should tell the government not to charge more taxes, lest it will not be voted in in the next general election.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( left ) said this when asked to comment on whether the list of exempted medicines from the goods and services tax (GST) should be expanded or otherwise.

“I think it’s for the people to respond if they feel that this is a burden for them,” he said during a press conference after a Perdana University event in Serdang today.

“They can tell the government, please don’t charge any more taxes. If you charge more taxes, we will not vote for you next time.”

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in his Budget speech last year had stated that 2,900 essential medicines would be exempted from the GST.

Meanwhile,when asked whether the GST will affect the cost of healthcare, Mahathir believes that such a scenario would occur.

“I suppose it will increase the cost of healthcare. Everything will go up,” he said.

Asked on the separation of roles of doctors and pharmacists in dispensing medicine, Mahathir said such a system would only be inconvenient, citing a scenario where medication is needed in the middle of the night and the particular pharmacy is closed.

“That will be inconvenient. So pharmacies need to be open 24 hours,” he said.

The ongoing tussle between doctors and pharmacists on dispensing rights sees doctors claiming that their livelihoods will be affected should the system come into effect.