GE14 | As each party has revealed their manifesto for the upcoming 14th general election (GE14), it seems that PAS does not want to be left out, with their offer to increase BR1M.

While caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak had previously announced that BN would raise the BR1M cash handout to RM2,000 per person if they were to win GE14, PAS has chosen to up the ante on this offer.

PAS vice-president Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said he is prepared to give out RM2,500 of BR1M per person if PAS were to win the elections and he is made prime minister.

“Tonight I want to declare, if we win Malaysia (and) I become prime minister, I will give out BR1M of RM2,500.

“What about that? Najib will start sweating if he heard this because BR1M has gone up three times after I mentioned it.

“Whether it is a coincidence or not, I am not sure,” he said in his speech at a ‘Rise Up to Defend Kelantan GE14’ rally in Salor, Kota Bharu last night.

BN had initially offered RM800 worth of BR1M in its manifesto compared to its original value of RM1,200.

Since BR1M was introduced in 2012, the handout to households earning less than RM3,000 and below was RM500, before it was raised to RM1,050 in 2016 and then RM1,200 in 2017 and 2018.

Mohd Amar, who is also the Kelantan caretaker deputy menteri besar, explained that he made this offer because he found that the BN government raised the BR1M handout every time he made a higher offer.

“BR1M used to be RM500 only, I have said before if I become prime minister, I will give RM1,000.

“It went up after that, so I said again I would give RM1,500, then he (Najib) raised it to RM1,200.

“Before this, I said if I become prime minister I would raise it up to RM2,000. He then announced in his manifesto that they will give RM2,000.

“So tonight, I am fighting back, we want to give RM2,500,” Mohd Amar, who is the caretaker assemblyperson for Panchor, explained.

He added that Najib may have heard his speeches and thus, increased BR1M accordingly.

“Maybe he heard my speeches, you can refer to my past speeches on Youtube.

“Whatever I said, he has responded in kind,” he said.