Let someone else do the 2017 budget, Kadir tells Najib

Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin has fired a scathing salvo at Prime Minister Najib Razak's handling of the country's economy, saying nothing short of replacing the ruling coalition can bring improvement.

Commenting on an article in The Star today about struggling childcare companies, Kadir noted Najib's haste in implementing the minimum wage policy was a disaster.

He said the childcare case reflects how small companies are unable to afford better wages and consumers are unable to pay for the increased costs arising from this.

"In his fixation with high income economy, (Najib) had enforced the minimum wage nationwide on July 1 this year despite objections by many parties.

"This is despite knowing that many employers do not have financial capacity to pay the prescribed rates.

"For this reason alone, he is no longer fit to continue as the prime minister.

"Consider this my feedback to his request for public input for the 2017 budget.

"Let us have somebody else planning the budget," wrote Kadir caustically in a blog posting.

Najib, who also holds on to the post of finance minister despite years of criticism for his dual portfolios, will be tabling his 2017 in the coming parliamentary sitting.

[More to follow]

-Mkini