BN the cause of your economic woes - Anwar tells Felda folk
CAMERON POLLS | PKR president Anwar Ibrahim reminded the voters from Felda last night that it was the previous BN government that stole from them, resulting in their present dire economic situation.
Speaking at Pakatan Harapan’s mega ceramah event in Sungai Koyan 1, Jelai, where many second generation Felda settlers live, he said he empathised that times were hard for the kampung folk...
CAMERON POLLS | PKR president Anwar Ibrahim reminded the voters from Felda last night that it was the previous BN government that stole from them, resulting in their present dire economic situation.
Speaking at Pakatan Harapan’s mega ceramah event in Sungai Koyan 1, Jelai, where many second generation Felda settlers live, he said he empathised that times were hard for the kampung folk.
“I admit… that there are serious economic problems now. If we say that our economy is going extremely well, that is nonsense!
“The reality we face in the kampung is that the prices of goods and our income that we receive are tough to live with. I admit that,” he said.
The reason for these economic problems, stressed the Port Dickson MP, was that former BN government leaders had stolen “tens of billions” of ringgit from the rakyat.
“And now, they have even taken the inheritance of the Malays.
“Look at Felda. They have ruined it! Tabung Haji? They have also ruined it!
“But then, they will go into the kampung and should ‘Hidup Melayu’ (long live the Malays), but it is they, the BN government, who stole from us,” Anwar charged.
He rallied villagers to support an ethical government like Harapan by backing the coalition’s candidate for the Cameron Highlands by-election, M Manogaran.
Former Felda chairperson Isa Samad has been charged with criminal breach of trust and for receiving more than RM3 million in kickbacks in relation to a hotel the federal agency bought in Kuching, Sarawak. The case is still going on in court.
Meanwhile, auditors have revealed that Tabung Haji had used the savings of its depositors to pay dividends and employed creative accounting to present an impression of profit. The pilgrimage fund is RM4.1 billion in debt.
'Lucky I am not finance minister'
Anwar, who was finance minister during Mahathir’s first tenure as prime ministe, before he was sacked and later jailed for sodomy, added that he was relieved not to be holding that portfolio right now.
“I always tell (Finance Minister) Lim Guan Eng that I am lucky I am not the finance minister.
“If (Prime Minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad asked me to become to finance minister again, I would say, ‘Sorry, let Guan Eng do it first’,” he quipped in jest.
Earlier, Lim had told the crowd of 200 present that the Harapan government had increased funding for Islamic institutions and causes, and he also denied allegations that the federal government was “anti-Islam”.
De facto Islamic religious affairs minister Mujahid Rawa Yusof also assured the people that the government would take care of the Malays and Islamic institutions, while pushing for unity among all the races.
In the 14th general election (GE14), BN and PAS proved to be far more popular than Harapan among voters in the three Felda settlements in Cameron Highlands, which are almost entirely Malay.
Manogaran stood in GE14 and is standing for Harapan again in the Jan 26 by-election, while BN is fielding former top cop Ramli Mohd Nor, who is an Orang Asli. Two independents, Sallehudin Ab Talib and Wong Seng Yee, have also joined the race.
The by-election was triggered after the Election Court ruled that vote-buying had led to MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh’s win in GE14.
