SHAH ALAM - PAS has urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to call an emergency session of Parliament, with former PM Mahathir Mohamad invited to attend, to review Budget 2015 in light of worrying economic developments.
PAS vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Man, was quoted In Harakah as saying Mahathir should be invited to the session to share his experience of handling the financial crisis of the late 1990s.
He said Budget 2015 was no longer realistic given that the national revenue would be much lower than was forecast in October. “The public must come together to pressure the government to do something,” he added.
He said the special session must deal with issues arising from the fall in the prices of oil, rubber and palm oil; the slide in the value of the ringgit and the lethargy in the stock exchange.
Tuan Ibrahim said PAS was particularly worried about how these pessimistic developments would affect Malaysia’s servicing of its national debt. He said the government must tell Parliament how it planned to cut costs and how it was using the savings from subsidy reductions.
The government must also respond to allegations about the mismanagement of 1MDB, he added.
He also urged the government to at least postpone the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“The government cannot gamble with people’s lives,” he said. “The GST will cause high inflation in the first two years of implementation, as experienced by China, Singapore and Australia.
“Businesses and the general public must be given breathing space in facing an economic crisis that now looks more inevitable than ever. The government can provide a short-term solution by postponing GST implementation.” - http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com
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