Pakatan Rakyat today accused the prime minister of copying its policy moves by announcing similar efforts to curb rising cost of living.

a kugan detention death funeral ummc to puchong 280109 kuala selangor mp dr dzulkefly ahmad However, PAS Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad ( left ), who spoke after the coalition’s weekly alternative budget working committee meeting, said that the BN government was free to “plagiarise” at will “for the good of the rakyat”.

“Yesterday (PM Najib Abdul Razak) wrote on his blog that the (upcoming federal) budget will be focused on easing the burden of the rakyat.

“This is a reaction to our announcement last week, when we said our alternative budget will focus on raising disposable income for the bottom 60 percent of households earning less than RM3,000,” he told reporters in Petaling Jaya today.

Fellow committee member and PKR Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar added that the cost of living national key results area (NKRA) announced on July 27 was also a direct response to Pakatan.

“Just before that, we had a roundtable discussions with experts on the rising cost of living,” she said.

Nurul Izzah said the fact that cost of living was named as the seventh NKRA also implied that it came as an “afterthought” to the BN government.

NONE This is especially since the BN's recent actions, including allowing  an “aviation cartel” to be set up, through a share swap between investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Tune Air Sdn Bhd, resulting in a tie-up between Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia.

Nurul Izzah ( right ) noted that the fact that the government was proposing an out-of-court settlement in the case of former MAS chairperson Tajudin Ramli also showed that it was insincere about putting people’s welfare first.

Agreeing with her, Dzulkefly said that pursuing a settlement with Tajudin was “shortchanging the rakyat”.

“That is the rakyat’s money, not Umno’s money,” he said.

Dismantling monopolies

PAS Negri Sembilan deputy commissioner Rosli Yaacob added that the BN was in fact creating more monopolies and oligopolies, which not only distorted the market but also threatened equitable distribution of income.

Rosli, who is also on the budget working committee, said that by dismantling monopolies, the government would be able to spur greater economic growth and increase tax revenue.

As such, the Pakatan's alternative budget, due to be released before the federal budget in October, would look at measures to break down monopolies.

In particularly, Pakatan would address supply chain inefficiencies in commodities such as rice, sugar and flour.

Committee member and DAP Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong said greater focus would be given to rice, the import and distribution of which are monopolised by government-linked company Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) as it affects most Malaysians.

mtuc syabas pc 091007 charles santiago “If we can help people at the bottom 60 percent to increase their disposable income, then we will create a rising tide for all boats in the economy,” Liew said.

Asked how Pakatan intended to dismantle monopolies, Dzulkefly said that Pakatan was not yet ready to divulge the formula, as it was “still subject to finer details”.

Other areas of focus would be minimum wage, with the committee due to hold a roundtable discussion on the matter with employers, academicians, industry representatives and entrepreneurs.

The committee, which met for the first time last week, has also extended its membership to include PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli, PKR Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah, political secretary to Penang chief minister Zairil Khir Johari, DAP Klang MP Charles Santiago ( above, right ), PAS Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli and PAS Youth committee member Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki.