I told you so, says Batu Gajah parliamentarian

Opposition member of parliament V. Sivakumar (pic) took a very different tack from his DAP compatriots, who also slammed the fuel price hike. While his peers focused mainly on the future impact on general prices, Sivakumar took the opportunity to tell Malaysians, I told you so.

"Pakatan Rakyat had warned the public to cast their vote wisely in the 13th general election. We had foreseen Barisan Nasional's strategy to reduce the subsidies for petrol and diesel in the aftermath of the polls," he said.

"This proves that they were successfully duped by BN's lies and false promises, resulting in them making the wrong choices during the polls. Now they have been rewarded for their choice with an increase in the price of petrol and diesel," the DAP MP said.

He added, "Pakatan Rakyat had made an attractive offer in its election manifesto to reduce the price of petrol immediately if it had won the polls and formed the government. Sadly, 47 per cent of registered voters swallowed the lies of BN and helped them to win 133 parliamentary seats."

In a statement, the Batu Gajah MP warned that the public would now be saddled with a bigger burden, following the increase announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, which takes effect at midnight tonight.

Sivakumar said the government allocated RM24.8 billion annually for fuel subsidies. Now in order to cut costs, it is transferring the burden to the public. The government will save RM1.1 billion this year with the increase and the public will have to foot the bill.

"The biggest burden is not the direct cost to the rakyat but the domino effect which will arise as a result of the increase. The price of goods and services will increase due to the increase in transport costs," Sivakumar said.

"How will this help the rakyat when there is no increase in their salaries and household income? Inflation will also rise accordingly," Sivakumar said. He added that the standard of living for Malaysians would be greatly affected.