Confidence vote important for economy, says Johari

 

Johari Ghani said Malaysia could go down the same path as Sri Lanka, which suffered an economic crisis earlier this year, if the government fails to improve the economy.

KUALA LUMPUR: The motion of confidence in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is crucial to ensure the government serves a full term and is given the opportunity to elevate the country’s economy, says Johari Ghani (BN-Titiwangsa).

He said if politicking continued in the country, Malaysia would risk falling further behind Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand in terms of economic development.

“We have wasted time with three prime ministers in the last four years and have fallen behind our regional neighbours,” he said when debating the motion of confidence.

Johari, who is a former second finance minister, said political stability will attract greater foreign direct investment (FDI).

Citing the example of Sri Lanka, which earlier this year suffered an economic crisis leading to bankruptcy, Johari said the same fate awaited Malaysia if it failed to improve its economy.

Earlier, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof tabled the motion of confidence in Anwar’s leadership.

Anwar currently has a two-thirds majority support in the Dewan Rakyat with 148 MPs under the government bloc. The opposition, Perikatan Nasional, have 74 MPs. - FMT