02.07.2021
The Pakatan Harapan Cost of Living Committee has held a special meeting on the Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat and Pemulihan Ekonomi (PEMULIH) that was announced by the Prime Minister on June 28. The committee feels the government could have taken several bolder actions to ease the burden of people’s living cost at all levels. The committee has taken the following stance:-
1. Living aid: We unanimously agree with the Leader of Opposition YB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim who called for the provisioning of monthly assistance to the B60 group amounting to RM1,500 per household each month, throughout the lockdown. For the M20 category, the committee suggests giving monthly assistance of RM 1,000 per
household, over the lockdown period. (The lockdown has resulted in reduced income whereby a portion of the M20 group has slipped to the B40 category, hence widening the income gap as reported by the Malaysia Economic Action Council).
2. Food basket aid: As representative of opposition Members of Parliament, we welcome the decision to increase the food basket aid allocation from RM100,000.00 to RM 300,000.00 for all parliament constituencies, including those held by opposition parliamentarians. We urge the government to distribute this to all members of parliament immediately to avoid repeating the unjustified incident that had happened in the past.
3. The Spirit of Democracy and Federalism: In order to uphold the people’s rights to democracy, those who have voted, and the spirit of federalism, we urge all state governments to similarly provide allocations for all representatives of the people in a fairly and justly manner, in the face of the Covid19 pandemic, with an aim to comprehensively ease the burden of the people.
4. Moratorium: The committee assesses from the overall perspective of the people. As such, we agree that the government must enable automatic moratorium to all people clearly without interest. The Ministry of Finance and corporations must realize that this is a social obligation that must be fulfilled for the sake of the rakyat’s well-being.
RESTORING OUR COUNTRY, RESTORING DEMOCRACY
The Pakatan Harapan Cost of Living Committee:-
YB Hassan Abdul Karim (Ahli Parlimen Pasir Gudang, KEADILAN)
YB Datuk Hj Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus (Ahli Parlimen Hulu Langat, AMANAH)
YB Chong Chieng Jen (Ahli Parlimen Stampin, DAP)
YB Natrah Ismail (Ahli Parlimen Sekijang, KEADILAN)
YB Sivakumar Varatharaju Naidu (Ahli Parlimen Batu Gajah, DAP)
YB Norhayati Bachok (Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Maharani, AMANAH)
YB Chan Foong Hin (Ahli Parlimen Kota Kinabalu, DAP)
YB Asmirul Anuar Aris (Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Kubang Rotan, AMANAH)
YB Cha Kee Chin (Ahli Parlimen Rasah, DAP)
