Najib lists 9 problematic legacies he had to deal with

Najib Razak says BN lost in GE14 because many people were taken in by lies Malaysia was becoming bankrupt.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak today sought to differentiate how Barisan Nasional (BN) governed the country previously compared to Pakatan Harapan (PH) now.

Najib listed nine legacies when he was prime minister for nine years, and how the government back then overcame the problems.

“In the nine years BN governed when I was prime minister, we were sincere and worked hard to develop the country and increase wealth for all Malaysians.

“In our efforts, we never blamed the government under the past prime minister. Whenever we faced problems, we fixed it. We did not point fingers,” he said in a Facebook post today.

The lopsided independent power producer (IPP) deals;

• Outdated, not transparent and inefficient taxation system;
• Unbalanced regional development in the east coast states as well as Sabah and Sarawak;
• Lopsided PLUS highway toll concessionaires;
• Felda not getting enough funds for replanting of crops and caring for the welfare of ageing settlers;
• Frequent confrontations with other countries;
• The overly big income gap;
• Expensive car tax; and
• Problem with public transportation.

“When it came to the IPP deals, we resolved them. When it came to the tax system, we replaced it.

“Unbalanced development? We balanced it. The lopsided toll concessionaire owned by the private sector? We bought back and placed it under the government and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

“When it came to insufficient funds for Felda, we sought out funds. Our frequent confrontations? We repaired those relationships.

“The income gap? We introduced the 1Malaysia People’s Aid as well as other forms of aid to redistribute the nation’s wealth among the Bottom 40 group.

“When car taxes were too high and people could only afford local cars, we did away with many taxes such as import and sales taxes. This has led to many being able to afford different models.

“When public transport was not good enough, we upgraded them. And there are many more,” he said.

As a result of what BN did, Najib said the country’s economic growth and exports in the nine years under him were among the highest.

“We did not lie to the people with propaganda of returning Malaysia to its rightful place as an Asian tiger. In fact, we were never the Asian Tiger.

“The truth is, in these nine years, the country’s economic growth was much higher compared to four other Asian tigers, namely Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea,” he said.

In that same period, Najib said Malaysia was given the title of the world’s longest running bull market, reaching its peak in early May, just before the 14th general election.

He also said that when he first became prime minister, the country’s shares rose from 800 points to 1,900 points before GE14, and that the share market value increased from RM600 billion to RM2 trillion.

“A large proportion of the RM1.4 trillion wealth generated then were shared with all the people,” he said.

In the nine years, Najib said Tabung Haji funds rose from RM21 billion to RM74 billion; EPF funds from RM341 billion to RM841 billion, Permodalan Nasional Berhad’s (PNB) asset value rose from RM120 billion to RM280 billion; KWAP from RM52 billion to RM141 billion; Petronas’ net assets rising from RM248 billion to RM438 billion; and Khazanah’s rising from RM34 billion to RM117 billion.

“Unfortunately, the people do not like the world’s longest running bull market. Or a record breaking share market. They prefer the world’s worst share market, as well as a decreasing wealth and economy.

“They prefer to hear fairytales of Malaysia in danger, RM1 trillion debt, BN selling the country, and that we are heading towards bankruptcy spewed by PH,” he said.

Najib also expressed regret for not previously penning lengthy Facebook posts such as this to correct the falsehoods spread by PH.

“But back then, we in BN were too focused on ensuring the National Transformation Plan (NTP) was a success.

“As a result, we lost in GE14, because too many were taken in by lies Malaysia was becoming bankrupt,” he added. - FMT