Rafizi: Umno's dismissal of my formulas shows how much they fear them

 

PKR deputy president-elect Rafizi Ramli said the Umno leadership is scrambling to dismiss and bury his “formulas” because they do not have better ideas on how to address issues plaguing the country.

He said the more they try to make fun of his ideas and formulas, the more obvious it is that they are afraid of his approach.

“Every time I speak, the only answer that comes from the Umno leadership is that I only know how to present formulas...(and) how these formulas supposedly could not be implemented while Pakatan Harapan ruled for 22 months.

“When they are so scared of my ‘formulas’ that a few of their leaders simultaneously speak out every time I bring up a solution, that means they are silently admitting that they are barren of any ideas to govern the country.

“They are worried that if Malaysian politics revolve around ideas and not sentiments over race, religion and who is in power, then they will be rejected by the rakyat, as what had happened in the 14th general election (GE14),” Rafizi (above) said in a statement today.

This came after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had yesterday slammed Rafizi for labelling Umno’s proposal of a national poultry board to cope with the rising price of chicken as a “joke”.

Zahid had said that people want solutions to their problems and do not care about Rafizi’s “formulas”.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

Rafizi said Umno will try to disparage any ideas of solutions from the opposition as they know they do not have any suggestions.

This had been among the reasons for their downfall in GE14, he said, as Umno could not defend its own policies that added to the rakyat’s burden at the time, such as subsidy cuts, corruption and the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST).

On the contrary, Rafizi said the general public are aware that, since 2013, he had been championing the petrol and diesel pricing formula first used by the Pakatan Harapan administration in 2018 and the two subsequent governments.

“Even though they said my formulas cannot be implemented, the prime minister, who is from Umno himself, has used that formula too.

“If there is a formula that can successfully protect the people from the sharp rise in petrol prices, as had happened during (former prime minister) Najib Abdul Razak’s tenure, that formula was brought up by me.

“As a result, the people have enjoyed petrol and diesel prices at a stable rate since May 2018 until now. That is why I am confident that the people appreciate political leaders who can come up with formulas,” Rafizi said.

Nothing would be solved if there were no well-executed ideas and formulas, he added.

Buffer stock of poultry

Rafizi also questioned why the Umno president criticised his proposal for the government to build a buffer stock of poultry, as it contradicts what the newly-appointed Umno supreme council member Isham Jalil had said.

“Isham said that the current Umno-led government had already implemented a buffer stock policy by importing chicken for the past few weeks.

“So which one is it? Is it that my idea to build up a buffer stock cannot be implemented, or did Umno come up with the idea of a buffer stock earlier, before announcing that they want to set up a national poultry board?” he asked.

Rafizi went on to explain that building buffer stocks for basic necessities such as petrol, cooking oil, rice, flour and protein sources, is a long-term solution that will give the government the ability to offset supply disruptions.

This mechanism is likely to be more effective than relying on a price control approach via implementing ceiling prices alone, he said.

“While there is a need in certain industries and cases for the implementation of ceiling prices, especially to avoid profiteering activities, the ceiling price method alone will fail to solve the problem in the event of a sudden supply disruption.

“Through the buffer stock mechanism, the government is able to alleviate supply disruptions by releasing buffer stocks to meet demand, while efforts to resolve supply disruptions are being carried out.

“It is like having a generator set to supply electricity in the event of a power outage while waiting for power to be restored,” he said.