Just slightly more than a month into the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), we now hear strong dissenting voices not only from Pakatan Rakyat but from other parties as well.

First on April 16, the mufti of Federal Territories, Zulkifli Mohamad, urged that Muslims who paid zakat be exempted from paying GST. He also asked for explanation on the collection GST and the distribution of its revenue. The mufti also commented that the 6 percent rate should be reduced.

A week later, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) said that it will consider the suggestion by the mufti for zakat-paying Muslims to be exempted from GST.

Then, on April 18, Umno’s member of parliament for Sepanggar, Sabah, Jumat Idris, complained about GST being a burden to the people just as he was charged a hefty sum of RM1,200 as GST for a medical treatment for his son.

On April 25, less than a month after the implementation of GST, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, speaking at the Bicara Negarawan forum in Kuala Lumpur urged that the GST be cancelled, saying that it is a system which even government officers do not understand.

On May 7 at the opening of the Johor state assembly, the sultan of Johor criticised the collection of GST for local authority services, saying that it “does not make sense”. He also directed the state government to seek exemption on GST from the federal government.

Following the sultan’s criticism, two days later on May 9, the Johor state government announced that it will absorb more than RM3 million in GST costs imposed on services by the state’s local authorities.

Johor Housing and Local Government Committee chairperson Abdul Latif Bandi also said that the Johor state government has sought a GST exemption from the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry and is awaiting the federal government’s decision.

On May 11, the Menteri Besar of Terengganu, Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, announced that the state government will absorb GST at a cost of RM1.6 million.

On the same day, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also announced that both local authorities in Penang will absorb GST at a cost of about RM2.1 million to the state government. Penang has also written to the federal government to exempt the tax for local authorities.

I believe that more and more parties will emerge to express their dissatisfaction with GST, including those from Barisan Nasional. This is a vindication of Pakatan Rakyat which protested strongly against GST from the first day of its introduction way back in 2009.

The government claiming to have conducted a thorough study of GST is clearly a lie as it has not even consulted among its own ranks as evidenced by the protests heard so far.

GST has shown itself to be the most irresponsible policy implemented under the Umno-Najib Abdul Razak regime. Thus, until the suitable economic precondition is met, GST must be scrapped off immediately.

STEVEN SIM CHEE KEONG IS MP for Bukit Mertajam, national political education director, Dapsy Malaysia and state publicity secretary, Dapsy Penang.