Don't let opposition rubbish rakyat's hard work, says PM
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (Bernama) -- The country's economic progress is a testament to the hard work of all Malaysians and the opposition should not be allowed to rubbish the achievement, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
The Prime Minister cited achievements such as the 2.7 million jobs and the average growth of 5.4 per cent since 2010, which the world's advanced economies could only wish for, should not be downplayed by the opposition.
He said the Gross National Income was up by over 50 per cent, which reflected a huge increase in the national wealth, explained why the International Monetary Fund commended the country for being well on the way to a high-income status.
"These are the achievements of all Malaysians, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
"Don't let the opposition rubbish those achievements by saying they don't exist, or wildly claiming that the country is on the verge of bankruptcy," he said in his latest post entitled: 'The Right Choice to Make Malaysia Greater' in his official blog, NajibRazak.com.
Najib, who is also Finance Minister, chided the opposition for criticising for the sake of criticising, but offering nothing of substance in return and worse, they were making false promises they know they could not fulfill.
"For example, they claim that they would remove the Goods and Services Tax (GST), but have yet to propose how they would replace the RM43 billion it brought in last year."
"Introducing GST was one of the hardest decisions I have made. I knew that it would lead to some increases in the prices of some goods and services, and that it would be painful for some Malaysians," he said, adding that the fact was without GST, the economy would continue to be overly reliant on the price of oil.
"This is something that was out of our hands and any downturn in the oil price, as we experienced a few years ago, could without intervention have led to a serious recession that would hit the people hard."
"GST, however, made us fiscally independent and stable. And while there may be some short-term pain, I assure you that the rewards will be long-term and felt in the years to come," he said.
The Prime Minister said now, for instance, the opposition was threatening to scrap the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).
"If they call that off, which is set to create 86,000 jobs, what will happen to the young generation in those states."
"The ECRL, is an example of the major investments that the government has fought hard to win, and if we decide to cancel the ECRL, then China will stop buying palm oil from Malaysia, which will particularly affect Felda smallholders," he said.
-- BERNAMA
