Do Not Let Najib Tun Razak Hijack The Johor State Elections With His “Malu Apa Bossku” Campaign That Overshadows The Critical Need To Make People’s Lives Better By Addressing Cost Of Living, New Taxes, Increased Compound Fines For Breaching COVID-19 SOPs.
DAP appeals to 2.6 million Johor voters not to let former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to hijack the Johor state elections with his “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign that overshadows the need for the next Johor government to make people’s lives better by addressing cost of living, new taxes, increased compound fines for breaching COVID-19 SOPs and livelihood issues.
Najib’s personal campaign is tinged with self-interest to ride on the expected BN victory as political fodder to save himself from his involvement in the RM52 billion 1MDB scandal.
Despite his conviction by the High Court and the Court of Appeal and irrefutable evidence globally that hundreds of millions of ringgit was channeled into his personal account, Najib continues to live in a bubble with BN as if he is innocent and free from the 1MDB scandal.
The interests and livelihood of 2.6 million voters is more important than the fate of one person convicted with a 12 year jail sentence and RM210 million fine and called a national embarrassment by the Court of Appeal.
For this reason, Johor’s 2.6 million voters must come out in large numbers to vote on 12 March to ensure that their concerns over livelihood and cost of living must be addressed. With inflation and rising prices exacerbated further by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has caused oil prices to exceed USD110 per barrel, the government has still not established a Price Stabilisation Fund.
What is the point of political stability if there is no price stability?
In response, the government replied in Parliament that it is still studying DAP’s proposal of a Price Stabilisation Fund.
Two, with prices rising but salaries not rising, many cannot make ends meet. The government should allow the public to withdraw their EPF contributions if not by RM10,000, then at least RM5,000 to allow them to meet their financial obligations.
Three, postpone the increase in electricity tariffs by up to 20% for 1.6 million business and industrial users beginning February to help businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession.
Four, address the severe worker shortage that has forced businesses to scale down their operations.
Abolish The New Tax On Earnings Brought Back From Overseas By Malaysian Companies And Stop Increased Compounds For Violating The COVID-19 SOPs.
Five, I have received a strong public response not only from Johor but also throughout the country about a new tax in the 2022 Budget imposed this year on companies bringing back funds earned in Singapore and overseas countries. It is only a matter of time before a similar tax is imposed on individuals bringing back their pay or income from Singapore.
There cannot be one country, two systems, whereby tax is imposed on companies but not individuals. Voters are worried that Malaysian workers in Singapore will be imposed tax after the 15th general election when bringing their income back to Johor. For this reason, 2.6 million Johor voters must comprehensively reject BN on 12 March to press for an abolition of this unreasonable tax, when we should be encouraging Malaysian companies to bring back money.
Six, withdraw the proposed amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 that would be passed in Parliament after polling day on 12 March to increase the compound fines of individuals from RM1,000 to RM10,000 and for companies to RM1 million, and on conviction in court the penalties will be increased to RM100,000 fine for individuals and RM2 million for companies.
If the people vote against the BN government, PH MPs will have a greater chance of defeating the proposed amendments because we will speak not just as an MP but with the endorsement of 2.6 million Johor voters with us. The government should take full responsibility for their failure to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and not pin the blame on the people by increasing penalties and compound fines.
Lim Guan Eng
DAP Secretary-General
