SINTOK – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today refuted claims made by former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who accused him of lying about the disposal of Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settlers’ debt.
Anwar said that as finance minister, he had just signed the approval of the disposal of the debt at the end of last month.
“Today, the former prime minister (Muhyiddin) issued a statement that I was lying, that this matter has been completed in 2021.
“How can you say you have completed, (when) I just signed it at the end of June. So, when you said it was completed, which part did you complete?” he asked at the Temu Anwar programme at Universiti Utara Malaysia here today.
Muhyiddin today was reported as saying that Anwar’s claims that he had failed to implement Felda settlers’ debt disposal was a big lie.
Commenting further, Anwar said that there was indeed an agreement by the previous government to dispose of the debt involved, but it was not implemented.
“Budget 2021 and Budget 2022, tabled by Perikatan Nasional, have no provision to settle and dispose of Felda settlers’ debt. I stand by this record.
“Only in Budget Madani 2023 did I start to set aside over RM990 million, as an early allocation to dispose of Felda settlers’ debt, amounting to RM8.3 billion,” he said.
In the meantime, Anwar reminded the people that they cannot rely on past leaders who were involved in corruption to solve the problems in this country.
He also called on young people to avoid being deceived by certain parties, who use religious and Malay issues to gain support.
“That’s why I said that youths need to think. The solution is in the youths themselves; they should set a new political standard.
“Don’t use the old political yardstick and fool the people with all the wrong facts; there is always room to check and ask questions,” he said. – Bernama, July 8, 2023
