Petaling Jaya MP Tony Pua slammed Deputy Finance Minister Chua Tee Yong, calling his support for a ‘managed float’ system for petrol pump prices “utterly untenable and unacceptable”.

 

He said Chua overlooked the fact that petrol pump prices fluctuate globally on a daily basis in a competitive manner, without kiosk owners or consumers facing any problems.

 

“Chua must explain why is it only that in Malaysia, our kiosk operators are unable to cope with such fluctuations.

 

“Is it because he believes Malaysians are “stupid” as alleged by none other than former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed?

 

“The excuse given is utterly untenable and hence, unacceptable,” Pua ( right ) said in a statement today.

 

Last week, Chua claimed that a free-floating mechanism would cause pump prices of fuel to fluctuate daily and industrial and business players would face problems in pricing their products.

 

The deputy finance minister had said floating the pump price of fuel according to market forces reduced the subsidy burden and increased government savings.

 

Brushing off such reasoning, Pua said it is more likely the government wants to maintain a managed float system or “dirty float”, as highlighted by Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong in his blog.

 

Pua asked if the government wanted to collect hidden taxes from the rakyat to cover their budget deficit.

 

“This hidden tax is most unethical and unscrupulous on the part of the government because the rakyat does not know how much it is being taxed.

 

“A hidden fuel tax is an unethical taxation system even more unreasonable than the Goods and Tax service (GST),” asserted Pua, who is also DAP national publicity secretary.

 

Pua pointed out that since oil subsidies have been cut, the excuse that petrol kiosks are not allowed to compete on the basis that there were subsidies, is no longer valid.

 

Hence, Pua calls upon Chua and the government to allow consumers to enjoy the benefits of lower global oil prices and to stop feeding public with flimsy excuses that prevent the market from competing efficiently.