GE14 | Caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has described Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a nonagenarian who refuses to adapt to the times or understand how technological advances benefit Malaysians.

He said this in response to Mahathir pledging to review e-hailing services such as Grab if Pakatan Harapan wins the general election.

Najib said in his attempt to win over the support of taxi drivers, the Harapan chairperson has disregarded the benefits of e-hailing for the people.

“The right approach to e-hailing services is to incorporate their benefits for the people, while at the same time assisting our taxi drivers to embrace new technologies and helping them to buy new vehicles,” he added in a Facebook posting.

Since 2012, Najib said, the government has given substantial assistance to taxi drivers nationwide, the most recent being the 1Malaysia Taxi Assistance Card and automatic approval for BR1M.

“The government has also helped taxi drivers with initiatives such as TR1MA, the taxi trade-in scheme, personal insurance as well as a RM200 million allocation via Bank Simpanan Nasional to allow taxi drivers to obtain loans to buy new vehicles.

“In 2015, the government reviewed taxi fares and in 2016 the Taxi Industry Transformation Programme (TITP) was launched,” he added.

'Typical Mahathirism'

In tabling Budget 2018, Najib said he announced that a RM5,000 grant for the purchase of new vehicles would be given to drivers who wish to convert to the e-hailing service.

He pointed out that the government also announced that all e-hailing and hire car drivers are required to adhere to the same terms, conditions and regulations as taxi drivers, in order to create fair and healthy competition.

“For those of you who are voting for the first time, you probably did not experience the years of Mahathir. This is typical Mahathirism for you — it's either his way or the highway. With tolls.

“Just look at what he did to Proton. The national carmaker could have been a top multinational carmaker that is profitable and one that Malaysians can be proud of. Instead, it constantly needed Government assistance and taxpayers money to compete.

“Do we want to go back to the old days, or do we want to move forward, as a nation, to greater heights?” he asked.