Penang opposition leader gives gov't a 50pct score

Penang state assembly opposition leader Muhamad Yusoff Mohd Noor (BN-Sungai Dua) has given Pakatan Harapan a 50 percent mark for its performance as the ruling government over the past year.

This compared to BN which he said achieved 98 percent of its election manifesto promises after coming to power, said the veteran assemblyperson.

“It’s 50 percent pass, not a “Fail”, as there are several steps that the government must take to improve itself,” said Muhamad Yusoff, during his debate today on the Governor’s opening speech at the assembly on Friday.

His remarks prompted Satees Muniandy (DAP-Bagan Dalam) to ask how many marks would he give BN which he said was tarnished with several scandals involving 1MDB and the Tabung Haji.

“You also mentioned that we need to strengthen Islam in the state, but there are people from your own party who were responsible for the Tabung Haji sandal which has affected many,” said Satees.

“How will you rate that government after it was plagued by scandals involving 'Bossku'?” he added referring to the popular nickname given to former premier Najib Abdul Razak.

Muhamad replied that in the past, the federal government used to bail out companies which were in the red such as Malaysian Airlines.

“It’s strange that when the Tabung Haji was suffering financially, it was not bailed out,” he said.

Satees then got up to say that in the past, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak had said that he did not take money, but when the police raided his house, they found millions of cash.

Najib is currently undergoing trial for money laundering activities related to SRC International, a subsidiary of 1MDB.

Muhamad Yusoff replied, saying that those involved in the scandals like the 1MDB had been charged in court. “Decisions would be made and if they are wrong, they will be punished, we accept it,” he said.

Muhamad Yusoff reminded the House that Harapan had made some mistakes, although he did not elaborate what they were.

He said not everything was perfect, but at this point, he was interrupted by Satees who continued to insist that opposition leader give a score for BN’s 60-year-rule.

“The manifesto (BN's) has achieved about 98 percent of its promises,” he said, which led to laughter from the floor.

“There are good things which have happened, but since you were then in the opposition, you only saw the bad things,” replied Yusoff.

“It’s not easy to build a nation in 60 years. In the early days, there was nothing. Developing a country is not easy, especially one that is multiracial, but we managed, not all our ruling (period) was bad. If I have done bad, I will admit,” he said.

Yusoff then listed several areas of improvement for Harapan to look into, including fulfilling their election manifesto promises.

As he congratulated the government on its first year anniversary, he said Harapan needed to improve their cabinet's performance, as well as the country’s economic situation.

“They keep repeating old issues which happened during BN’s time. They should also stop creating controversies so that the people will have more confidence in the government,” he said.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo had previously claimed that despite having been in power for only 11 months, the Harapan government had implemented the main core of its manifesto which he said was to save Malaysia from corruption and abuse of power. - Mkini