PKR Youth today defended the new Penang coalition government’s decision to steer away from the New Economic Policy (NEP) and slammed Umno Penang for exploiting the issue for political mileage.

In a statement today, the movement’s spokesperson Hasmuzair Hassan said Umno Penang leaders who raised the issue had caused confusion between the NEP and Malay rights that are enshrined in the Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

He said Penang Umno’s objections were an attempt to raise racial tensions and show that they still had their support despite Barisan Nasional losing the state government to the DAP-PKR coalition.

"Our position is that it is not wrong for the new Penang government to not implement the NEP because it is not enshrined in the Federal Constitution. It is just a policy by Umno that has been absorbed into government administration," said Hasmuzair.

lim guan eng Newly-minted Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng had reportedly said that state administration would be "free" of NEP practices beginning with a open-tender system for government deals.

This had triggered angry reactions from Umno Penang which resulted in a demonstration against Lim near his office on March 14.

MEA better than NEP

Elaborating, Hasmuzair said PKR Youth was of the opinion that the NEP was a construct of Umno that is similar to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Islam Hadhari and former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Vision 2020.

"What makes NEP ‘special’ is that it is frequently used by Umno leaders to gain support from the Malays. It is only used when Umno feels that they have lost Malay support and for them and their cronies to obtain government tenders and deals.

"With the NEP as a model, Umno leaders and their cronies can obtain tenders and contracts even though they are not eligible or qualified," added Hasmuzair.

penang komtar umno protest 140308 anwar traitor banner Hasmuzair said Umno had always claimed that the Malays would be left behind economically should the party not defend the NEP.

"But the biggest success the NEP had in 40 years is to enrich Umno leaders and their cronies while the original intention of the policy - to ensure 30 percent equity ownership among the Malays - were not achieved," he added.

He stressed that the movement believes that the PKR’s Malaysian Economic Agenda was a better alternative to the NEP as it plays a better role in poverty eradication.

Hasmuzair said that the MEA would also ensure that the rights of the Malays and the position of Islam would be retained as laid out in the Federal Constitution.