KJ wants gov't to break election promise on GST

PARLIAMENT | Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) has urged for the Pakatan Harapan government to break two of their election manifesto promises for the sake of the country's economy.

The first promise the government should break is their promise to abolish GST, he said.

"Promises are meant to be broken. Break your promise on the GST," he said during his turn to debate in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Although GST has been zero-rated since June 1, the impact of this move is minimal as the prices of goods have not gone down, he claimed.

As Harapan ran on a campaign of accountability and transparency, they should reconsider their stand on GST as it was a more transparent and efficient tax system than the sales and services which is to be reintroduced, Khairy said.

"No country in the world replaces the GST with SST.

"We should not implement SST but continue with the GST but at a lower rate," he added.

The second promise he wants the government to break is the promise to postpone the repayment of PTPTN study loans by all graduates whose salaries are below RM4,000 per month.

"If PTPTN is unable to collect its revenue, it may be forced to borrow from financial institutions," Khairy said.

This, he said, would saddle the government with further debt.

"These are promises which will damage the future of the country.

"I implore you, the prime minister has said the manifesto is not a bible, so look at it in a rational way.

"I am ready to forgive the government if they do not fulfil these two promises," he said. - Mkini