The Pakatan Harapan government must address the economic issues faced by Malaysians – especially Malays from the middle- and lower-income groups – if it is to remain in power, DAP political education chief Liew Chin Tong said.

“We want to take care of the welfare of the Malay middle and lower classes, to let them live better.

“If their lives improve in five years’ time, we will not have a problem in the next election. This is Pakatan Harapan’s challenge.

“In the past few years, there have been a lot of complaints about the economy, mainly due to the implementation of GST that caused price hikes, the drop in the value of the ringgit, as well as cuts in government expenditure and subsidies, which resulted in a lack of funds flowing in the market,” he said in an interview with Sin Chew Daily.

Liew added that barring any major global economic crisis, the people having more money to spend will, in turn, improve the country’s economic standing.

To do so, he said, the Harapan administration has to figure out how to increase wages and create jobs, break up monopolies and put an end to corruption and cronyism. 

For instance, he said if Malaysia does not rely on foreigners for the security guard industry, 20,000 jobs a year can go to locals, he said.

In the interview, Liew also issued a reminder to Harapan that since the May 9 general election saw a bloodless transition of power from BN's six-decade rule, Malaysians are no longer afraid of voting for change at the ballot box.