Unfair to say PH's 22 months a failure - Guan Eng

26 February 2022

By Farah Salim

PETALING JAYA: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that claims that Pakatan Harapan (PH) has failed in its 22 in power are wrong and unfair.

Guan Eng explained that during PH in power, the coalition has reduced toll rates on the North-South Expressway, reforms in procurement, abolition of the goods and services tax (GST), and the provision of assistance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In an interview with FMT, Guan Eng said: “There were many things that we did. We had open tenders and the savings that we have secured. We were also able to make sure that Malaysia’s fiscal and financial situation did not become worse. We were (also) able to bring up charges against those involved in 1MDB, the court cluster. We abolished GST.”

Guan Eng said subsequent administrations had benefited from the policies introduced by PH but had never improved upon those policies.

“Instead, they wanted to impose a tax on incomes, earnings, profits (made) overseas that are brought back to Malaysia. And that hits Johoreans very hard because many are working in Singapore, and many companies are making profits in Singapore. When they bring back the money they will be taxed.”

He said he believes that political considerations were behind the government’s decision to provide an exemption until 2026 on individual income earned overseas.

“So we want the voters to be warned, if you support the present government, they will tax you, especially if you are working in Singapore in the future.”

Elaborating on the recent Sarawak elections, Guan Eng said the opposition’s votes had been split, giving the advantage to Barisan Nasional and Gabungan Parti Sarawak.

“The other aspect was the lower turnout. If there was a higher turnout of voters, I think we would have won more than double the numbers we have secured.

“We have to examine why there was a lower turnout. We do not deny there was some unhappiness at what happened.”

He said there was also a sense of futility among voters as elected representatives could jump ship without being punished or penalised, which was why an anti-hopping law was crucial.