Harapan's budget loaded with goodies, lacks substance

I refer to a recent article where Pakatan Harapan shared its alternative budget for 2018. After going through the article, I can conclude that Harapan's alternative budget is populist and very short of substance.

This clearly shows that the budget was done haphazardly and without any serious thought behind it. The populist budget from Harapan is just to gain support from the rakyat and it knows that the budget is not sustainable.

Firstly, the promise of Harapan to abolish the goods and services tax (GST) if it wins the next general election. This does not make sense as GST contributes approximately RM42 billion to the government. By eliminating GST, the government loses a very important revenue stream.

To replace GST with the sales and services tax (SST) also does not make sense as most countries around the world (168 countries and counting) have changed from SST to GST, while Harapan is regressing by going back to SST which brings in lower revenue for the government.

Secondly, the promise to abolish all tolls in this country also does not make sense. It is just a lie to woo the rakyat to vote for Harapan in the next general election.

As a reference case, Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) and Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor (KPS) Bhd own a 30 percent stake in Syarikat Konsesi Lebuhraya Kesas and 20 percent in Syarikat Konsesi Lebuhraya Sprint.

If Harapan is really serious and against toll roads in this country, it should first start to relinquish the stakes in these two highways, rather than profit from it. Why has Harapan not done so?

Thirdly, the promise of Harapan to provide free education is also shallow and another lie from the opposition.

A reference case will be Universiti Selangor (Unisel) which is owned by the Selangor government.

If Harapan is really serious about providing free education, why has it not started providing free education in Unisel? Harapan should walk the talk by providing free education in the state it runs first, before trying to hoodwink the rakyat.

Finally, I firmly believe that the alternative budget produced by Harapan is irresponsible, unsustainable and definitely populist.

In short, it is an election budget, without taking into consideration the economic realities of the world economy, and was just released to woo voters in the coming general election.

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S VELL PAARI is MIC treasurer-general.- Mkini