KUALA LUMPUR – Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli (Pandan-PH) caused a ruckus in the Dewan Rakyat today when he aimed jabs at former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh-PN) over the nation’s economic state.
Rafizi, who is also PKR deputy president, hit back at the Perikatan Nasional chairman after the latter expressed his concerns that the economy might worsen if the government refuses to invest in special incentive packages for struggling citizens.
“Based on projections and our current economic performance, God willing (our economic conditions) will not be any worse than when Pagoh (Muhyiddin) was prime minister,” Rafizi said to loud cheers from backbenchers.
As Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul attempted to quiet the lawmakers, Rafizi was heard defending his statement, saying: “Pagoh asked (the question), I as the minister am only answering based on the available government data.”
“Pagoh suggested that we (Putrajaya) allocate RM200 billion or RM300 billion (for special incentive packages), but the government is aware that it has inherited huge debts (from past administrations),” he said in response to a supplementary question from Muhyiddin.
Economy Minister @rafiziramli caused a ruckus in the Dewan Rakyat today when he aimed jibes at @MuhyiddinYassin over the nation’s economic state.
— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) March 22, 2023
“God willing (our economic conditions) will not be any worse than when Pagoh (Muhyiddin) was prime minister.” pic.twitter.com/mhWyLA6rff
Last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said while the government had in the past borrowed money to assist the rakyat, being in debt to finance non-beneficial mega projects mired in leakages and corruption had raised serious questions about the betrayal of public trust.
Meanwhile, Rafizi also took aim at Muhyiddin over his alleged role in the controversial Jana Wibawa scheme, which has been named in the latter’s graft and money laundering charges.
“It is important that the government spends its money wisely and secures best value – instead of blindly racking up debts (which are later) found to have financed projects like Jana Wibawa,” he said, to another round of applause from government lawmakers.
Earlier, Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah (Paya Besar-BN) took Rafizi to task over his stance on the government opting to not increase its debts, claiming that if Putrajaya is willing to fork out funds, it will enjoy returns through tax collection.
Pointing to Anwar’s revised supply bill for 2023, Rafizi highlighted that the budget is the biggest in the nation’s history, with more than RM90 billion allocated for development expenditures.
“The question of the government not spending any money (on citizens) does not arise… we will not take more loans just to secure support from the people and make (Anwar) look popular,” he said, adding that such moves will detrimentally affect the nation’s deficit.
Earlier this month, Muhyiddin was slapped with four charges of abuse of power involving RM232.5 million and two charges of receiving RM195 million in illicit funds related to his role in the Jana Wibawa project, which aimed to assist Bumiputera contractors.
Last week, he was also hit with an additional charge for money laundering involving RM5 million. – The Vibes, March 22, 2023
