PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli today said people should not enter politics with the aim of earning money.

He then criticised the Selangor state government's decision to increase the salaries of its lawmakers up to 300 percent.

Asked by moderator Maszlee Malik about the justification behind the salary hike during a forum on price hikes organised by Sinar Harian today, Rafizi said if some politicians have an inkling to be rewarded financially for work done, "they should stay in the corporate sector."

"The argument behind the salary hike is if the MB is heading a state of five million people, he should be justly rewarded. But I don't agree with this, better not be a politician if you want to make money. Better stay in the corporate sector," he added.

Rafizi said that politicians should be seen as being as close to the people as possible in order to be sensitive to their plight.

"I want to ensure that we in Pakatan Rakyat don't have politicians like Abdul Wahid Omar (who asked Malaysians to use alternative roads if they don't want tolled roads), otherwise we will be no different than BN ministers," he added.

He said that the view that politicians should be justly rewarded just like the corporate sector for doing their job was a “mechanical” argument.

Rafizi also said that the Competition Act is very inefficient when it comes to tackling the monopoly of certain industries by some major players.

“You form the Competition Act and then you exclude the major industries from this competition. What is the job of the commission then? Are they going to apply the Competition Act to ensure the price of roti canai stays low?” he asked.

He said that if the Act is applied across all sectors, it could bring down prices by opening up the industries in order to get more competitors.

Moderator Maszlee Malik, at the end of the forum, suggested that BN and Pakatan Rakyat could unite in asking the government to amend the Act so that it can apply to all sectors.