Federal aid for Raya bonus reflects badly on PN’s SG4, say analysts

 

Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar has often been mooted as a potential prime minister candidate from PAS. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

Putrajaya’s help in funding Aidilfitri aid for 14,000 civil servants under the Terengganu government tarnishes the image of the grouping of four states led by Perikatan Nasional (PN), political analysts say.

Tawfiq Yaakub of Universiti Malaya said the grouping, dubbed “SG4”, was previously touted as a platform capable of boosting the economy of the four PAS-governed states.

However, he said the federal government’s help in paying the RM500 aid for Terengganu civil servants reflected badly on menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar’s administration, despite the narrative that these funds were part of the state’s “oil royalty”.

“Samsuri is no ordinary leader and has often been mooted as a potential prime minister candidate from PAS. But even other states that don’t depend on petroleum revenue are capable of paying the festive aid to their staff,” he told FMT.

Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan said the development showed weaknesses in the Terengganu administration as well as a lack of creative strategies from SG4 to boost the revenue of the respective states.

“The opportunity to govern (the four states) should be used by PN to prove its ability to manage the states, and then potentially the country.

“However, this opportunity is not being taken, to the point that they can’t even afford to give something as simple and not so costly (as special Hari Raya aid),” he said.

On Monday, the finance ministry announced that Putrajaya had agreed to distribute RM500 in special Hari Raya aid to civil servants under the Terengganu government, with the Treasury spending about RM7 million.

Terengganu executive councillor Azman Ibrahim denied that this reflected a weakness in managing the state’s finances. He also said the state administration was not wholly dependent on oil royalties to pay the Aidilfitri bonus, but was simply demanding its rights.

Kelantan and Perlis have also announced the distribution of RM500 in Aidilfitri bonuses to civil servants under the state administrations. This will benefit about 9,000 civil servants in Kelantan and 1,700 in Perlis. Kedah has yet to announce such a bonus.

Tawfiq said Terengganu’s government-linked companies (GLCs) were supposed to be capable of generating enough revenue for the state to give out bonuses without relying on the federal government’s help.

“Why haven’t its GLCs’ profits helped in this area?” he asked. - FMT