Parliamentary opposition leader, Fadzil Noor, today criticised the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) as being impractical, a continuation of stale policies still advocating "the get-rich culture" and lacking transparency.

Debating the 8MP in Parliament, Fadzil, who is PAS member of parliament (MP) for Pendang, said the 8MP was just a continuation of the Seventh Malaysia Plan.

"The get-rich culture of the last plan is still in existence at all levels of management. There is still no sign of more transparency in administration," said Fadzil, who is also PAS president.

Fadzil also said the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project in Cyberjaya was not a centre for information and communications technology (ICT) but one for property development.

"The question is not about having more hospitals and research centers but who is being given the contracts. Usually, such billion-ringgit contracts are offered to crony companies," he said, adding that "if there is no transparency in implementing the 8MP, I am afraid the plan would not be very practical".

Fadzil said as long as the attitude of government leaders did not change, society's attitude would not change either.

"There is no need to think about new ideas when leaders still maintain an oppressive attitude," he said, adding the 8MP would not succeed if attitudes remained the same.

At this point, PAS MP for Parit Buntar Hassan Ali asked permission from the Speaker to state his support for Fadzil.

Declare assets

He read out an Internet report entitled 'How rich are Malaysian cabinet ministers', and stated that ministers in Thailand had to declare their assets to the public.

"In this country, ministers declare their assets to the prime minister. This is not public accountability and is questionable," he said.

Fadzil continued with his argument of transparency, agreeing that the assets of ministers should be declared to the public.

"If ministers only declare assets to the prime minister, then who does he declare his assets to?", he queried.

"This is in line with Islamic principles. Umno likes to talk about Islam but their actions must prove it so that the rakyat will be satisfied," he said.

Fadzil also raised the issue of RM50,000 allocated to Barisan Nasional MPs for 'unofficial purposes'. He also asked why the money was not given to opposition MPs for their constituencies.

Intentional malice

"Is the money also given to Umno leaders in areas lost to the opposition?" Fadzil asked.

BN MP for Rompin Jamaluddin Jarjis stood up and replied that receipts had to be issued "for every sen spent" and accused Fadzil of intentional malice.

BN MP for Tanjung Karang Noh Omar supported Jamaluddin and queried whether BN MPs in Kelantan and Terengganu, both controlled by PAS, were given an allocation by their state governments.

Fadzil clarified that in Terengganu, BN MPs were given allocations but those in Kelantan had yet to receive any funds due to the state's tight budget.