Pakatan sees budget as an election ploy

Opposition MPs strongly suggest that Budget 2013 is all about the general election.

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MPs have largely panned the Budget 2013, terming it as nothing more than a ploy geared towards the general election.

Here are their responses:

PKR-Permatang Pauh MP and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim:

In general, it’s a small dosage for the election. But the basic structural problem in this country in which rich cronies and family members amass billions of ringgit of profit through improper means is left unchecked.

They have no courage to address the monopoly of the amassing of wealth by a small group of family members. This is contrary to the spirit of Pakatan Rakyat… what is taken by the rich should be corrected and given to the poor.

Of course, this gimmick (referring to the speech) is just for the election, a political attack on the opposition. If you are prepared to attack the opposition, why can you not engage in a debate?

DAP-Rasah MP Anthony Loke Siew Fook:

The budget is definitely aimed at winning as much support as possible for the ruling party. Some of the measures are targeting various sectors, including young and first-time voters, such as through the RM200 smartphone rebate.

To consolidate their support among civil servants, this is the first time ever that their bonus has been increased to one-and-a-half months. This will incur huge expenses for the government.

The government doesn’t seem to have the political will to change the fundamentals of the economy… to change the expenditure, to cut down and so on. It is clear that they want to spend as much as possible to win as much support as possible to retain the government.

DAP-Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran:

Personally I’m shocked and very disappointed by how the prime minister behaved while putting forth the budget. I wanted him to be statesmanlike, but instead he made it like a political speech.

The PM may be wearing many hats, but he shouldn’t have ended it with a political ceramah. It looks like he’s desperate.

Overall, it’s not that exciting. We expected more provisions for East Malaysia. You want to hand out sweets, you’re in a position to do that, but overall it’s not exciting.

We expected more provisions for East Malaysia and more benefits in terms of good prices, that part is more disappointing.

DAP-Bagan MP and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng:

Look at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX). A 10-year tax incentive given in contrast to the BR1M 2.0 next year, because of election.

But for the TRX financial centre in KL, that is given a 10-year tax incentive. We have to look at the comparison between the cronies and ordinary Malaysians.

How much for the cronies and how much for ordinary Malaysians. For the RM20 billion extra expenditure that they made since last year, we want to know how much it is for both.

PAS-Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub:
We have to go back to the basics of free education and the breaking of certain monopolies, so that they can be given back to the people, so that Malaysians can get a larger economic share.

I feel that the budget clearly points to the buying of votes in the next election. That cannot be avoided… there are too many cash handouts.

Pakatan Rakyat sticks to the fundamentals. We give free education, and intend to abolish the PTPTN (National Higher Education Loan) with a planned payment schedule over 15 years.

We want to give royalties to states that need it, such as Sabah and Sarawak. But there is only the reduction in the price of gas, which is not a total solution.

PAS-Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar:

They find too easy to run away from taxes, and have at the end only given riches to themselves. I don’t see the government as serious.