Have a big heart, Terengganu MB tells Rafizi

 

Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar (left) urged economy minister Rafizi Ramli to build harmonious relations between federal and state governments.

PETALING JAYA: Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar told economy minister Rafizi Ramli to be magnanimous when managing the relationship between state and federal governments.

He said Rafizi should also be open to the opinions of others.

“We need to have a big heart. There is no need for a superiority complex. You won’t lose anything by listening to the ‘rakyat’,” he said in a Facebook post.

Samsuri said this in response to Rafizi’s statement about the lack of economic planning in the four states with Perikatan Nasional governments.

Despite federal government priority for Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis in the allocation of development funds, these states did not have any plans for their economy and kept asking for more funds.

Samsuri said Rafizi had shot himself in the foot in saying that the revenue the federal government collected via taxes came from all states. “So in essence all the states in Malaysia had played a role in developing the country,” said Samsuri, who is a PAS vice-president.

Samsuri said there was a need for harmonious relationships between Putrajaya and state governments by adhering to the spirit of federalism especially after the recent state assembly elections in six states.

If Rafizi was angered by the fact the people of Terengganu chose a PAS government, he should take it out on him, Samsuri said. “Don’t punish the people because of their choices.” - FMT